


All It Takes Is Loss

by JediAniUnduli



Series: Donut Dad and Space Son [4]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Genre: Camping, F/M, Fishing, Found Family, Gen, Holter Lake, Natural Disasters, Outdoors Montana
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:00:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 53,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23845624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JediAniUnduli/pseuds/JediAniUnduli
Summary: Sonic and Tom go camping in Montana. Bad guys are easy to defeat when you can see them. Nature is a completely different entity.
Relationships: Father/Son Bonding - Relationship, Maddie Wachowski & Tom Wachowski, Maddie Wachowski/Tom Wachowski, Sonic and Tom bonding, found family!!!!!
Series: Donut Dad and Space Son [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1791868
Comments: 114
Kudos: 183
Collections: Sonic





	1. Chapter 1

“YEAH!” Sonic cheered. “Road Trip Two, here we come! Woot Woot!” He kicked up dust as he tore around the yard in excitement, no real rhyme or reason to explain his crazy tracks around the whole area. It stopped all other traffic dead, including one partially annoyed sheriff.

“Sonic,” Tom sighed, shaking his head. “At least wait to celebrate until _after_ we get everything packed up inside the truck.” He finally saw his chance to step past Sonic to make it to the truck, his arms filled with various camping items. Sonic had been told to pack his own clothes, toothbrush, etc., and once he had done so (three times coming up to Tom for inspection and approval), he had decided to race around the yard in excitement. Ozzie was laying on the cool grass in front of the house, contentedly being Ozzie.

“I don’t know what I’ll do with you two gone for the weekend,” Maddie said, a small grin twitching her lips, threatening to release a laugh. “All this peace and quiet will be insane.” She managed to contain her giggles as Sonic continued his excited dash right-left-left-right-up-across-and-all-over the yard. Meanwhile, Tom set down the items he held onto the grass, rearranged them to fit inside the already-packed bed of the truck, and then shut the back. He jogged up the steps to give his wife a gentle peck on the lips.

“You could always come with,” he muttered. She fought to hold back a laugh.

“Uh, nuh-uh!” they heard Sonic exclaim. They both turned to see Sonic staring intently at Tom, wagging a finger at his human. “You said this would be an us-guys-only thing. No girls allowed.” Tom groaned, and Maddie finally released her laugh.

“Plus, I’m not into camping like you are, Tom,” she said. “Don’t let me spoil your bonding time.” Tom scoffed.

“Bonding time? Huh, sure!” he said rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, keep pretending this wasn’t your big idea,” Maddie said in a near whisper, rolling her eyes back at him. She kissed his cheek, her expression sobering as she pulled away. “Be careful up there. You know how unpredictable the outdoors can get, especially when the snow’s just melted.”

“I’m not too worried.” Tom said. “There are no flash flood warnings for this year for the Holter Lake area, and even Brad sounded confident that we wouldn’t have any troubles.”

“Other than the river being a little more swollen than last year due to the sheer volume of snow we got,” Maddie added, nodding.

“Which isn’t that unusual,” Tom finished. He turned to eye the truck. “The sheer amount of food I have to bring on the other hand…”

“It’s not _my_ fault I have to keep up my metabolism!” A blue blur quickly appeared right next to Tom, one pretending-to-be-annoyed Sonic. “Now can we go? Everything’s packed and ready andIwanttoleaveNOWpleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!!!” Even his jumps were high-powered, causing both humans to see multiple Sonics in just one blink.

“Okay, okay!” Tom laughed. He turned back to Maddie. “I put a copy of our itinerary on the kitchen table just in case, along with Brad’s personal number and his station number. If that doesn’t work, Wade knows how to get a hold of me. Other than that, everything is packed, and we’re going to leave now before Sonic decides our yard needs more ruts.” The little blue boy stopped his jumping to fold his arms and pout, big hedgehog eyes focused solely on the Donut Lord.

“Hey! I controlled my running this time,” he whined. “Besides, it’s hard to be patient when your human is taking _forever_.” Both adults exchanged loving if exasperated glances. After almost a full year of fostering Sonic, they were prepared for these outbursts. However, they still weren’t always sure how to address his outbursts, since most of the time they seemed to be brought on by the fact that he lived at a faster pace than literally _anyone else_ on earth. Neither could blame their hedgehog though – Tom had told Sonic just last month about this little activity that they (he) had planned from the start of the year, and even with school and Little League the hedgehog still found time to excitedly obsess about it.

Plus, Sonic was right. It was time to go.

“We’ll see you on Monday,” Tom said, leaning in to kiss Maddie one more time.

“You better.” She kissed him back, before giving him _that_ look. “And you better bring back some trout this time.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he mock-saluted, taking a step back before turning to walk towards the truck.

“I’ll make sure of it, Pretzel Lady!” Sonic bragged, stepping up to take Tom’s vacant spot. “After all, one of us needs to be the responsible one around here.” She held back her giggles, trying to look serious.

“Well, I’m glad you’re choosing to be the adult here, Sonic,” she said, her eyes betraying the depths of her mirth. Suddenly, a horn honking cut across the early morning air.

“Come on, Sonic!” Tom hollered. “I thought you wanted to get going.” He didn’t bother to hide his ear-to-ear grin as he started to get the truck rolling towards the street.

“Heyheyheystopitwhat’reyoudoing??!!!” Sonic exclaimed, speeding off towards the truck. A split second later, Maddie felt a pair of fuzzy arms latch around her waist for a brief hug before disappearing again. “Bye, Maddie!” The duo chorused for one last wave before they vanished from view. The young woman waved back until they disappeared from view. She continued to smile as she turned around to head back into the house.

Time to binge on all the girly movies that Tom and Sonic kept downvoting on movie night!

*******

“Are we there yet?” Sonic whined yet again, turning around to stare wide-eyed at the driver. Tom chuckled despite himself. Driving for hours on end was driving the little guy nuts, especially when there was no obvious end in sight. Sonic had meanwhile perused his Flash comic collection at least five times and had played on his DS up until five minutes ago – choosing to gaze outside the passenger-side window at the trees flitting by.

“Sorry, sport,” he said. “It’s going to be another hour.” He double-checked the GPS despite himself. Yeah, machines didn’t lie.

“UUUUUUuuuuugggghhhhh!” Sonic groaned, throwing himself back into his seat.

“Be thankful we haven’t run into any holiday traffic yet,” Tom said. “That could easily delay us another hour.”

“I guess,” Sonic mumbled, crossing his arms before looking back outside. “I just want our vacation to start already.”

“I would say it started when we left the house,” Tom said steadily. “We got time before we reach the lake campground. We may not be able to go race around or go fishing or go hiking yet, but we could do other things, like look out the window, or talk.” Keeping his left hand on the steering wheel, he reached over with his right to rest it on top of the boy’s head. Sonic didn’t say anything, but he didn’t move away either.

When Sonic didn’t protest, he carefully reached underneath the quills to begin stroking the alien hedgehog’s head. Sonic still didn’t say anything, but he leaned over as far as the seatbelt would allow, curling towards Tom’s side to give the human better access to continue petting him. Tom pretended he didn’t see the kid’s eyelids drooping, or that he was hearing light snoring only seconds later. He kept the music playing at the lowest sound he could hear.

The last hour of the drive passed in peace and quiet.

*******

The tires slowed as they reached the edge of the dirt clearing. Tom paused as he put the vehicle in park and turned the truck off, taking the few seconds he had of peace and quiet to reflect. He could see the rushing waters of the river before him, as well as the thick concrete structure that spanned the gap between both banks. He didn’t see an issue immediately obvious to him, but that was why he chose to stop here first prior to moving farther downstream.

He looked down at the sleeping hedgehog beside him and shook his head in wonder. Kid was either more tired than he had let on or his excitement wore him out that much faster. He reached towards the glove box before thinking better of it, retracting his hand to instead land on the kid’s head.

“Whoa – what?” Sonic jolted awake. Before Tom could get a word in edgewise, the hedgehog was zooming all over inside the cab of the truck. He was thankful his first instinct had been to keep the doors locked. “That’ssocooldoesthatmeanwe’reherenowIthoughtyousaidwewerecampingbutthisdoesn’tlooklikethecampsiteyoushowedmeandwhyistheriversoloudandcanweeatbecauseI’mreallyhungry –”

“Sonic,” Tom said quickly in his sheriff voice, “breathe.” A noisier inhale he had never before heard – at least before accepting a certain hedgehog into his life. “Breathe again.” He cut off Sonic’s ensuing groan with, “You need to breathe at least three more times before I answer any of your questions.” He then eyed the puffy cheeks, closed mouth, and silence around the hedgehog before adding, “ _Continued_ breathing, Sonic. You’re not underwater; you don’t need to hold your breath.” Cue a noisy exhale and another couple noisier inhales and exhales before Sonic’s breathing came under control. “Thank you.”

“So where are we?” Sonic asked again. Tom smiled at him.

“This, Sonic, is the Holter Lake dam. Remember what I told you about dams?” Sonic nodded, looking at him with wide eyes. “Well, this is the one that keeps the water flow under control here at the lake. This is also where my friend, Brad, works.”

“That’s so awesome! I can’t believe how long it is!” Sonic said admiringly, going closer to the passenger side window. “It’s so pretty. And long, _very_ long.” A beat passed before the hedgehog looked back at Tom. Tom was ready for this.

“No, Sonic.”

“Please?” the kid begged. “I swear it won’t take me long! I’ll be back before you know it!”

“No, Sonic, you cannot run across the dam.” He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Thankfully, he was improving in his ability to curtail the small alien.

“Why not?” said hedgehog, who was beginning to bristle.

“Dams are monitored by state as well as federal government employees,” Tom said easily. It helped that he had anticipated this, and as a result had rehearsed this little speech for a couple weeks. “I don’t doubt you could run across and back without being seen by human eyes. But there are still cameras. If you run across the dam and are spotted or caught on camera, we’re going to get another visit from the federal government, and it’s probably not going to go as well as the previous visit.” Sonic pouted again.

“Fine.” Tom unlocked his driver’s side door, opened it, and got out of the vehicle. “Wait, Tom, what are you doing?”

“Getting out,” Tom said, keeping his face blank. “What does it look like?”

“But if I can’t go out to the dam –”

“I never said you couldn’t go out TO the dam, Sonic,” Tom said gently. “I just don’t want you running across the top of it.” The blue kid froze in place, a wide smile stretching across his face.

“Wait. You mean it?” Tom nodded and pointed at the path he had already picked out.

“I called Brad ahead of time, so he knows we’re coming and to meet us on this side of the river. We’ll just have to walk –” Tom began, already anticipating the gust of wind that blew past him and sped towards the dam.

“ALREADY THERE, DONUT LORD!” he heard yelled back at him.

“Oh, Sonic,” Tom sighed. As he closed the door and used the key fob to lock the truck up, he wondered not for the first time if this was going to go well. He hoped it would. Well, he _had_ hoped it would. Now he would just settle for it going somewhat according to plan.

He started to follow Sonic.

********

Tom could hear the voices more clearly as he rounded yet another bend in the trail. At least Sonic had the good sense to talk to people while on the trail – it gave Tom the chance to catch up while tracking his progress. Plus, if he was hearing things right, he recognized the voice. That was comforting – it had been a while since he had last talked to Brad, and if Sonic was going to stop and talk to every person he found along the way, at least it sounded like he found Brad first. He had tried to prepare Brad for meeting Sonic, from filling him in on recent family life to giving him a picture of the blue boy, and he would soon see if his efforts paid off.

After another ten minutes of walking, he rounded another corner to come out onto an open dirt area, narrowing to one trail that connected directly to the bedrock that connected directly to the dam. He also saw a tall, blond-haired, hazel-eyed white male in park ranger uniform looking bemusedly at Sonic while trying valiantly to answer the kid’s questions that came at him rapid-fire. He would fail. No one could keep up with Sonic’s questions, let alone Sonic who sometimes forgot the question as soon as he asked it. No, it was up to Tom and Tom alone to save his friend.

“Brad,” he called out, lifting up his arm to wave at his friend. He noted Brad looked relieved to see him. Sonic looked mildly annoyed at having his question-and-maybe-answer session cut short. Life’s tough, kiddo. “Hey, good to see you again.” They clasped hands and completed a short but manly embrace. Don’t make fun of guys who hug each other. Those same guys could also punch their way out of a brawl and avoid any legal trouble. Mocking them for hugging would be the least of your problems.

“You too, Tom.” Upon closer inspection, Brad wasn’t as pale as he had thought initially. A light tan was starting to form on his skin, cut off where the sleeves began and the ridiculous hat overshadowed his face. “Geez, you eat enough donuts recently?”

“Says the guy who finally learned how to tan,” Tom ragged back. “You finally don’t have any sunburns on you.” He reached to clap his friend on the back, but Brad was too quick for him. “Aw, come on, Brad! _Again_?”

“Save it, Tom!” The red that flushed his cheeks was too obvious to even pretend to ignore. “That’s the one tender spot I still have. At least my arms toughened up.”

“And that’s what you get for trying to impress the ladies before the summer season opens,” Tom laughed, ignoring the hit to his arm. “I see you met Sonic already.”

“Yeah.” Brad snorted. “If you could call it a meeting. You could have told me more about him, you know. Your kid won’t stop pounding me with questions, Tom, and half of them I can’t even understand.” The kid pouted again, quills partially sticking up this time.

“You just need to work on listening to the fastest man alive, Brad!” he said with a smirk. Tom raised an eyebrow at the kid, while Brad looked confused.

“Sonic…”

“Yeah?”

“… You’re a hedgehog.”

“So?”

“It’s the fastest _hedgehog_ alive. You’re Sonic, not Barry Allen.” He quickly reached over and ruffled the kid’s quills, stifling a surprise yelp of pain when the kid suddenly moved a couple steps over. “And please, be nice to Brad. This is the first time you’ve met him. I’d like you to get along with one of my friends.” Sonic scoffed back at him.

“I get along with Wade just fine.” He crossed his arms, tapping one of his red-and-white shoes in obvious impatience.

“Yeah, because he’s relaxed and lets you walk all over him.” Tom jerked the other thumb towards Brad, who was obviously holding back a laugh. “At least talk to Brad like a regular person before you insult him.” Sonic huffed in annoyance.

“ _Fine_.” Tom removed his hand from Sonic’s quills, wincing at seeing one stuck to his index finger. However, as soon as he lifted his hand up, Sonic disappeared only to reappear in front of Brad. To the forest service guy’s credit, he jumped only slightly. For the ensuing conversation, Tom was torn between disbelief and amusement as Sonic appeared to interrogate Brad.

“So, you’re Tom’s _friend_.”

“Yes.”

“For how long?”

“Well, I’ve known him since high school. We actually went to the police academy together before I decided I wanted to join the forest service and he decided to be sheriff of Green Hills.”

“And what do you do now?”

“I patrol the area to keep an eye on any visitors and campers, but primarily to check on surrounding environmental areas for problems.”

“Like what?”

“Flooding is one. Between the record snowfall we had last winter and the heavy rains that have happened the last few weeks, the river is higher than it has been for the past few years. Another is the snow itself. The temperatures have ricocheted between cold and warm, which means that even with this weekend’s unseasonably warm temperatures the snow hasn’t completely melted. But when it becomes this warm this long, that can cause all of the snow to melt together, which could lead to flooding. That plus the current river level could lead to something called a flash flood.”

“But that’s not going to happen this weekend, right?”

“I can’t say so for certain, Sonic.”

“But it won’t.”

“Probably not. But it could.”

“But it won’t. Because Donut Lord and I are finally here to fish and camp and relax, and nothing will spoil our weekend!” Sonic finished proudly. Tom observed Brad’s face change from patient to exasperated to frustrated to amused to calculating in a matter of seconds, and decided he should finally intervene.

“In all seriousness, Brad,” he said, trying to hide his grin. “What do you have to tell me about this weekend’s forecast?” Brad rubbed his jawline seemingly in contemplation.

“Honestly, Tom? As long as the weather remains sunny, the temperatures don’t get higher than 40 degrees, and we don’t get any rain, we should be good. I wouldn’t worry. Besides, if I did hear anything, you know I’d call you.” That’s when Tom noted an unnatural gleam in his friend’s eye, and resisted the urge to run away. “So… Donut Lord?”

“Yep!” Tom fought the urge to facepalm as Sonic continued to be Sonic. “He’s the Donut Lord _and_ the sheriff. He’s the protector of all creatures and foods great and small,” it seemed to be getting better, “and he eats them if they get out of hand!” Nope – it was too much. Tom Wachowski face-palmed. Brad laughed aloud.

“Good to know, kid,” he said straight-faced. Tom glared at him. “I’ll remember that if I have any problems keeping animals or donuts in line.”

“Hah-hah,” Tom said sarcastically. “Don’t you have a beat to patrol?” Brad winked at him.

“Surprise, surprise: We are on my beat,” he said. “I can continue to keep you guys’ company for another few miles or so –” the ringing of a cellphone interrupted whatever he was going to say next. With a quick, “Excuse me,” Brad stepped off to the side and snapped open his cellphone. Tom turned to look at Sonic quick, who was now looking back at him.

“What?” Sonic asked innocently.

“Sonic,” Tom began, “what was the point of that… that interrogation?”

“Well, you told me to talk to Brad like a regular person.”

“ _That’s_ how you talk to regular people?” Sure, Sonic was usually full of questions when he stopped to talk, but Tom didn’t remember Sonic doing that to any of their people back home.

“Well, sure!” Sonic replied, now looking a little more mischievous. “I mean, people who I don’t know and who are your friends and who I have to check to see where they fall on the friendship hierarchy.” _Oh_.

“So you just wanted to make sure you didn’t have to beat out anyone else for best friend status,” Tom said.

“Three words, Tom: Bros before hoes.” Tom shook his head.

“That doesn’t even apply here, Sonic,” he said, giving the little guy an exasperated grin. “But, whatever. I get it. You cool with him?” Sonic looked down and shuffled his feet around a bit.

“Well, yeah.” Then he looked up at Tom with such an intensity that it almost took Tom aback. No, not mad, but definitely protective. He was well used to that by now, but every once in a while Sonic could surprise him with _how_ protective he was. “But he _can’t_ come with us.”

“No, I won’t.” Tom turned to see Brad putting his cellphone away. “That was my supervisor. He wants me to go check out a complaint some tent campers have about bears. Which does remind me – if I was going to warn you about anything Tom, it would be the bears. All the bears have been roaming around looking for food stuffs since the ice melted. They haven’t been overly threatening or tried to kill any people that I can tell or that I have heard, but you know how they can get.” Tom nodded seriously.

“I do. Hey man, thanks again for meeting us.” He reached out with one hand and Brad grabbed it with his own. One firm handshake and it was over.

“My pleasure. And don’t worry, if anything changes you’ll be the first one I call.” Tom saw Brad’s lips twitch as the other man tried not to smile. Tried – _right_. “Donut Lord.”

“Yeah, well, thank you for the help, Brad,” he said, quickly clapping the other guy on the back of his shoulder blade. He tried to pretend that he didn’t see the wince. “And next time, just wear the sunscreen everywhere.”

“Jackass.” Tom dodged Brad’s half-hearted swipe, grinning back at his friend.

“Dick.”

“Bye, Brad!” Sonic said, waving politely.

“See you, Sonic. Good to meet you.” Tom nudged Sonic, and together they walked back to the truck. Rather, Sonic got bored after five seconds and used his super speed to run to the truck. Tom continued to walk, ignoring Brad’s chuckles as they grew distant.

Lucky guy. He didn’t have an alien hedgehog with an insane appetite to feed. Good thing he kept the truck locked.


	2. Chapter 2

“Aw, COME ON!” Tom heard as he came walking up to the truck. He saw Sonic’s blue outline blurring as the kid alternated between tugging on the driver’s side door to appearing on the roof of the truck to trying to open the passenger side door to circling around the truck to begin the cycle again.

“Sonic!” he called out. “What are you doing?” Immediately, the hedgehog stopped his hyper pacing to stop next to the driver’s side door, clutching the handle in his white-gloved hands.

“Uh, nothing, Donut Lord!” Sonic said as he dangled from the door, shoes scraping the ground. Tom raised an eyebrow.

“You know,” he began, “if you wanted to open up the truck, you probably should have grabbed _these_ ,” he slipped his hand into his pocket, jangling his keys as he casually brought them out. He quickly encased them into the palm of his hand as the blue blur rushed over to him, one white-gloved hand grasping the now-empty air in front of him. “And that’s not how you ask, Sonic.”

“Aw, please, Donut Lord?” the hedgehog whined at him. Having fallen to the ground, he now sat on his knees, gloved hands folded up towards Tom’s face that were backed by big green eyes. “I’m sooooooooooooooo hungry! That run took a lot out of me. I need FOOD!” Tom, however, stood his ground, still outwardly looking stern. Inwardly he started counting the seconds it would take until Sonic would phrase his request appropriately. Fortunately, Sonic was a fast learner.

“Would you please open the truck up so I can eat, pretty please, Donut Lord??” Sonic asked, never moving from his spot. Tom smiled, and the sound of the doors unlocking hit two sets of ears.

“YEAH! WOOHOO!” Sonic yelled, zooming again towards the truck, this time appearing by the passenger side door before a click sounded and he was then seen inside the truck. Tom walked to the driver’s side door and opened it. Sonic was already tearing into the first day’s cooler (yeah, he had to pack food arranged in coolers by each _day_ they were staying), grabbing the sandwiches that had been specially made by Maddie.

“Slowly, Sonic. It’s almost noon, but we still need some sandwiches to last you the rest of the day.” The hedgehog scoffed.

“I know, but that run really took it out of me, Tom! I’m going to need to eat until I regain my strength.”

“But we haven’t even made it to our first stop yet, Sonic,” Tom pointed out. “Or did you forget we’re going to be fishing?” He clapped the kid on the back carefully yet firmly. “Now stick to two sandwiches and one cookie.”

“You’re no fun, Donut Lord,” the hedgehog pouted.

“If I were really no fun, I’d order you to wear the lifebelt I brought along,” Tom said. He noted the look of disgust on the hedgehog’s face.

“Pfft. I don’t need no stinkin’ lifebelt, Donut Lord. I’m the one with powers.”

“Even though you’re afraid of water?” Tom probed gently.

“I’m not, I’m not AFRAID of water,” Sonic protested. “I like it just fine.” Tom waited. “When you and Maddie are around.” There it was.

“Well, we did figure out you’re roughly fifteen or so,” Tom said, looking back out at the road, “so you don’t technically have to wear one. But,” he glanced across to connect briefly with the kid, “if you want one, regardless, it’s there.” Sonic still gave him that teenager look of disgust, but it morphed into one of contentment as he dug into the sandwich.

*******

They arrived at the first stop shortly before one o’clock. The first accessible dock south of Holter Dam had a spread out picnic area as well as low banks that allowed easy access to the lake waters for rafts, kayaks, and canoes. On top of that, there was also the generous-sized boat landing that currently had a line of three cars hauling boats patiently waiting for one fisherman to finish tying his boat off to the dock. There were approximately twenty or so people milling around besides doing a variety of things typical of vacationers, so when Tom drove up and parked his truck, barely a look was spared in his direction.

That would change.

“YaaaHOOOOOO!” Sonic cheered as he jumped out of the side of the truck, feet barely touching the ground before transforming into one blurry blue-white-red pinwheel that was heading towards the lake. Tom issued multiple ‘sorrys’ to the parents and their kids as he edged the truck as close to the picnic area as he safely could. Once parked, he turned the engine off and hopped out, shutting the door behind him as he headed to the back of the truck. At least Sonic seemed like he was calmer than usual.

If it wasn’t for the frame that was attached to the back of the truck as well as the top of bed, he wouldn’t have been able to bring it. Loosing the two bungee cords on one end, and then repeating the same action on the other side, he noticed as the oblong shape shifted its position within the metal rack, otherwise unmoving. He gave it a searching glance, running his fingers down either side and over the bottom. No cracks; it was smooth and undented. Enclosing his fingers around either end, he swung the canoe up and over the metal rack onto the cover atop the truck bed, then sliding it down to the ground and resting it on one end.

Tom walked a few more steps to reach under the top of the cover, and he folded it back a couple times until he uncovered the first quarter of the truck bed’s contents. The coolers with the rest of the food were farther back inside the truck bed, but the sleeping bags, tarp, and other camping items had filled in the rest. The only exceptions were the tent and cookstove and cooking utensils, and those had been packed behind his and Sonic’s seats. On top lay four fishing rods: one red, two black-and-gold, and the last a deep blue. He had wedged in the tackle box as the last item before closing the bed back home. Sonic had seen him carry everything out – with the exception of the fishing rods.

He brought the tackle box out with a tug, swinging it out and over the top of the open bed before setting it down on the ground. The next moment he looked up, Sonic was tapping his foot with his arms crossed. He smiled a little, deciding to lean back and rest his hands on his hips while enjoying whatever Sonic was going to throw in his direction this time.

“Come _on_ , Tom!” the blue devil whined. “Do I seriously have to wait all day for you to move?” He held out his white-gloved hands. “I can at least carry something, you know.”

“Really?” Tom raised an eyebrow. “You? Help me?” The kid scoffed.

“Puh-lease, I’m the fastest hedgehog alive. That means that everything gets done ten times faster. Plus, you said we were going to go fishing.”

“Huh.” Tom pretended to think. “Did I really say that? I _do-nut_ remember.” He neatly avoided a kick aimed in his direction, relishing the groan at his dad joke. “Okay, okay.” He turned back towards the bed of the truck and reached down, carefully cradling the thin fiberglass rod. With a flourish, he drew them up and out towards Sonic. The kid looked confused.

“Wha – That’s it?” he asked. “Donut Lord, how are we going to catch big huge,” he gestured wildly with his hands, “trout with these tiny, thin sticks?” Tom snorted.

“First of all, Sonic, these ‘sticks’ are rods made of fiberglass so they’re lighter and bendier, which makes them the best to catch trout with,” he said. “Second, I’ve done this before, so have a little faith, would you? And finally,” using his other hand, he gently dislodged the deep blue pole to hold it out towards Sonic, “don’t knock a gift before you try it.” Green eyes went wide as the boy reached out gingerly towards the offered item.

“You mean, it’s mine?” Tom nodded.

“I even got the color to match you.” Which was even more similar in shade to the hedgehog than he had realized. Was that just his imagination, or did the pole shimmer in the sunlight?

“AWESOME!” Two furry arms encircled him and left sooner than Tom could react. “Thanks, Dad!” He now stood there holding three rods instead of four. The tackle box still rested on the ground. 

“Just remember to help me carry the other stuff here,” the sheriff said. He shook his head fondly. He knew Sonic would do that – after he did a victory lap or ten. Gifts were still a huge deal to the hedgehog, even though he and Maddie initiated gift giving every time a holiday came around (or, really, whenever Sonic gave them an excuse to spoil him). He looked at the items that lay on the ground before him. What else was he missing? Right – the lunchbox. He went to the passenger side, opening the door and grabbing it before closing the door again. He didn’t plan on it taking too long, but he knew his son would complain if there was no food to be had.

Son. _Dad_. He remembered the first time he heard Sonic call him ‘dad’, during a thunderstorm no less than three weeks after they had moved Sonic’s stuff from his cave into the attic. The poor kid had been terrified of how loud the storm was up in his room, but had been too paralyzed to move. If Tom hadn’t woken when he did, urged by something he couldn’t identify to check on the blue alien, Sonic would have probably stayed awake the whole night. Good thing _Speed_ and blankets made a reliable cure for the creature’s anxiety.

The morning after, the hedgehog had looked bashful, almost worried that Tom was going to mention his little slip-of-the-tongue remark. Tom knew he wasn’t going to say anything, acting as if everything was back to normal so Sonic would feel like everything was normal too. Everything _was_ normal after that for a few weeks, until Tom got injured on the job and Sonic panicked, clinging to him and demanding that he couldn’t leave him, the word ‘dad’ again slipping from his lips so easily. Tom responded by hugging the little hedgehog close and promising he wouldn’t leave his son behind.

The rest of last year had passed with Sonic getting comfortable with calling Tom ‘dad’ and Maddie ‘mom’ as often as he called them ‘Donut Lord’ and ‘Pretzel Lady’ respectively. So far, this year had seen an increase in the hedgehog calling them ‘dad’ and ‘mom’, unless he was around total strangers or he became really shy and withdrawn. He and Maddie had talked about making Sonic officially part of their family long before Sonic started calling them dad and mom, but between government red tape and annoying bureaucratic officials their hands were tied. They had been lucky to enroll Sonic with their last name simply because bureaucratic rules demanded that he had one (even if he didn’t register anywhere in anyone’s system), and Sonic didn’t know if he ever _had_ a last name.

Finally, three weeks before Little League started, the call came. Luck was on their side, as well as the bureaucracy, and that was Tom’s cue to tell Sonic about this trip. Terrified didn’t even begin to name the mixed emotions he held. If Sonic was okay with calling him ‘dad’ and Maddie ‘mom’ though, there was no reason for him to worry. Besides, all of this was about Sonic, was for Sonic, so that he knew that he wasn’t alone anymore. The Wachowskis were _his_ family.

Now he just had to find the right moment to spring all of this on the kid.

“Come OOOONNNNN!” he heard said kid’s voice whine at him. He rolled his eyes before turning around.

“You know, grabbing more than one item to carry would _quill-y_ help me move faster,” he smirked.

“ _Stop_ ,” Sonic groaned as he zoomed in closer, his new rod gripped tightly in his white-gloved hand, “with the dad jokes!”

“But I’m the _punniest_ guy around,” Tom quipped, handing Sonic the rest of the fishing rods to carry. He flipped the top back over the bed, took out the keys and used the fob to lock the truck. He then bent down and with a grunt hoisted the canoe over his shoulders. “I have not yet begun to pun.”

“No.” He saw Sonic shift the rest of the poles to his left hand in order to pick up the tackle box. “Stop it.”

“No need to get so _prickly_ ,” Tom continued, walking towards the bank. “It’s not like you’re going to die from my jokes.”

“Watch. I’ll be the first known case to die from overexposure to dad jokes.”

“Don’t worry, _encepha-ha-halitis_ is easily _quillable_ ,” he deadpanned. He heard a longer groan behind him, and he laughed.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop,” he chuckled, reaching the water’s edge. He swung the canoe down, resting it on the fluid surface below. Moving his grip to just one side of the vessel, he brought it close to shore. Brad was right; the water seemed a little higher than last year. He let Sonic put the poles inside, then the tackle box, and after a rush of wind the lunchbox. He let the hedgehog go in first, and once the kid was seated, he jumped in as well, pushing off from the bank.

“Uh, Tom,” Sonic said, his face twisting in confusion, “aren’t we forgetting something?” Tom smiled at him.

“Are we?” He reached down and inside the canoes to grasp the handle of one paddle that was mounted, gently dislodging it from the plastic hardware. He reached over to the other side to repeat the action, grabbing the other paddle. They were a bright yellow, the only splash of color against the more muted silver backdrop that was the canoe.

“Oh, I see.” Sonic’s eyes lit up with enthusiasm as he was handed a paddle. “That’s pretty cool, Donut Lord.”

“Have I redeemed myself for my dad jokes?” Tom asked.

“No,” Sonic replied. Before Tom could say anything, he suddenly received a splash of cold lake water. Sputtering, he wiped the water away from his eyes to see the hedgehog smirk at him, paddle lowered back into the water. “ _Now_ we’re good.”

“Insolent hedgehog,” Tom gasped melodramatically. He lowered his paddle into the water and tossed water back at the hedgehog, who yelped as he tried to avoid it. “You take that back.” He winced as another cold splash of water came at him.

“No, you take it back!” He swung some more water at the hedgehog, who again failed to miss the water.

“No, you!” A larger wave came flying at him.

“No, you!” He shoved more water towards the teenager. If it wasn’t for the fact that it was an unseasonably warm day in May, they would have been shivering. Minutes later, despite both being soaked they laughed until their sides ached. Tom held out a hand.

“Truce?” Sonic grasped his hand.

“Agreed, Donut Lord.” He brought up his fishing rod. “Let’s get fishing!”

*******

“UUUUUggggghhhhhh!” Sonic groaned, throwing himself back against his human. Apparently doing the same thing for the thirteenth time in a row within a half hour period had worn off on Donut Lord, who was patiently (if obviously) ignoring him. “How have we _not_ caught any fish yet?”

“Do you really want to hear the answer over again?” Tom asked patiently. “Or would you prefer if I don’t answer this time?” Sonic aimed a glare in his human’s direction, but the guy didn’t move. Typical dad move.

“I know, I know,” the little blue alien grumbled. “I gotta sit still and watch the rod. If it bounces, I set the hook. If it doesn’t bounce, I gotta check it. And I gotta sit still so I don’t rock the boat, because when I don’t sit still I move the boat around and jostle the lines so the fish don’t come anywhere close,” he finished, rolling his eyes. “Which they _aren’t_ since we haven’t gotten a bite at all in the last _five minutes_!”

“Sonic,” the human sighed. “It’s been a half an hour.”

“It feels the same!” groaned the hedgehog again. “Can’t we do something else?”

“Nope!” Tom responded a little too cheerily. “We’re going to stay out here until another hour passes.” Sonic groaned even more obnoxiously. “Or until I catch something.” Donut Lord finally turned to Sonic and gave him a gentle pat on the head, smiling despite his frustrated appearance. “Consider this your chance to practice going _slow_ for once.”

“That’s every day at school,” Sonic grumbled, accepting the pat despite himself. “Look at the amazing scenery!” He grabbed the side of the canoe Donut Lord was _not_ facing. “It’s wide open. Almost no one in sight, and certainly no government officials. I could go for a quick run right about now,” he said, turning his big, wide, green eyes towards the human.

“Or later,” Tom added.

“Or later,” Sonic begrudgingly said. “If you take me to shore,” he quickly added. Tom chuckled.

“We got more daylight now than we did a couple weeks ago, Sonic. We have enough time for you to continue to fish for the rest of the hour, _maybe more_ ,” the human cut across his groans, “but still enough time for us to get back to the truck, drive down to the campsite, and _then_ time for you to go out for a run. Just be patient, okay?”

“Okay,” Sonic turned and studied Tom’s visage for a long moment. “Dad,” he finished belatedly. He thought he saw his human smile a little in response, but maybe that was a hallucination. Brought on by being exposed to too much sunlight and water and _stupid_ boring _fishing_. Then again, what else did he expect from his dad? He turned back around and studied his fishing rod.

 _Dad_. The first time he had let slip the word, he had been in the middle of a dream. A dream where Longclaw never died, and she had come back to take him back to his home planet, Mobius. He saw she was hurting Tom, and he had tried to stop her. He didn’t realize he was talking out loud until he woke up to realize that what he thought was Longclaw swiping at his face was really Ozzie licking his face. He had waited to see if anyone else – Maddie, Tom – had heard, but they hadn’t, and he had gone back to bed. Yeah, maybe he was a little disappointed, but Tom was supposed to be his _best friend_ , not anything else, and he was fine with that.

Except then he had woken up to the first thunderstorm he had to suffer through while in the attic. Geez, that was louder than his cave had been, and was lightning supposed to be that bright? He didn’t even realize that he had been screaming for Tom – _dad_ – until he saw a familiar brown head with sleepy eyes pop up through the hatch. Relief completely overrode embarrassment then, and he accepted his human’s hug and subsequent ride to the couch where they snuggled under blankets and rewatched _Speed_ , until he woke up almost being smushed to death by said human in the morning (not that he complained).

He didn’t want to say anything. It wasn’t because of _guilt_ , because there wasn’t anything to feel guilty about. It was perfectly normal for best friends to call other best friends ‘dad’ on accident. Then one day, while shadowing Maddie at her clinic, he heard “officer down” on the radio from her office. He asked her what that meant, and her face had told him everything he needed to know. Longclaw was dead because of him. It only made sense that Tom would suffer the same fate. Except, working in a small town meant “officer down” could be an actual officer hurt or injured or _dead_ – or really that the officer was trying to help shoe a horse with the owner and had gotten kicked down to the ground. _Hard_.

He still refused to leave his human’s hospital room.

That had led to him testing both Tom and Maddie with various “slip-ups” over the past several months, trying to gauge either human’s reaction. Both seemed to be okay with it, but they never pushed him to call them ‘dad’ and ‘mom’ more often, and he never asked. He didn’t want to, happy with this new understanding he had with them. It was the first time he had ever had a known last name, too, thanks to school. _Wachowski_.

But since about a week or two ago, he noticed both humans strangely _weird_. He would have said that they were excited, but he’d seen normal excitement. This wasn’t like that. They didn’t seem sad though; he could tell just by looking at Donut Lord. His human looked almost proud when he didn’t think he was being watched, whereas Maddie just pressed her lips together like she was holding back a laugh. Well, they were on this trip now, and he hated to disappoint either of them. Even if it was pretty boring now, he liked being alone with Donut Lord and wouldn’t trade it for anything – unless it was another _Speed_ movie night. Was Tom able to bring the electricity out here?

“Sonic! Your pole!”

“Huh?” he said, startled out of his reminiscing. He saw his fishing rod do a strange dance of jerks and slides and jumps, almost clearing the side of the canoe. “Oh wow!” He reached forward, grabbing onto the rod and hanging on for dear life.

“You got a fish, Sonic!” Tom sounded excited.

“No, really?? I thought it was a lake monster,” Sonic snarked. “It doesn’t seem to like me very much. It keeps trying to yank the pole into the lake.” He struggled as he held the pole in two hands, glad he stayed seated. He tried using the reel as Tom showed him, but it wouldn’t budge for some reason.

“Here.” Two strong arms encircled Sonic, coming around to grasp the pole and reel around his gloved hands. He tried to be still, he really did – his quills would hurt Tom if he wasn’t careful – but he had a fish finally! “It’s okay, Sonic.” He still heard the human grunt as he came in too close, but that could just be him fighting the fish too. “Sonic, we’re going to have to fight the fish. Help me by holding the pole with both hands, okay?” Sonic moved his right hand from the reel to the bottom of the pole. He was too tongue-tied with excitement to do anything other than nod excitedly.

“Okay!” Tom said excitedly, switching his hands around to get a better grip on the pole. “Almost forgot you were a southpaw, kid. Same concept though. I’m going to flip the switch below the reel to let some slack,” Sonic heard a small click, and heard the line start to zip the other way. His hands were so far down the pole so the only thing he felt was the constant jerking and pulling of the fish.

“But,” Tom continued, “I’m going to control the slack so I’m controlling the fish – not the other way around. If you listen, I’m not letting the line zip out the entire way – I’m using the handle on the reel to control how much I let out. ‘Cause if you’re feeling what I’m feeling, that fish is still fighting us pretty good!”

“Uh-huh!” Sonic cheered, tightening his grip on the pole as excitement renewed his chattiness. “Beat him, Donut Lord! Bring ‘im in!” The human laughed.

“One reel at a time! Every time he gives me slack, that’s a reel in. Every time he fights to go out further, that’s a reel out.” Sonic heard Tom exhale as the line continued to zig zag back-and-forth. The pole continued to jerk between two sets of hands. “The good thing is that they get tired out sooner or LATER!” As soon as Tom had said that, the line gave a final heave before jerking out of the water. Sonic let go of the limp fishing rod in time to grab at a flying, shiny object coming at his face and hug it to death. It fought against his arms and caused his arms, face, and chest to become damp with lake water, but he held on tight.

“I got it! I got ‘im, Dad!” he exclaimed. “Uh… it’s still moving!” He laughed as the fish squirmed against his chest. “And it’s wet and cold! Gross!”

“Here,” Tom said again. “Keep holding the fish. I’ll tell you when to let go.” Sonic gripped the fish tightly as Tom reached around to grasp the mouth. “And… you can let go.”

“Whew!” Sonic gasped, still laughing. He let his body fall between the seats, throwing an arm out on either side to support him. “What is it? How big is it? Can I keep it? Are we going to eat it?”

“Well,” Tom began, holding up the black-and-pink, silvery fish next to his tape measure. “To answer your first three questions, it’s a rainbow trout, and at seventeen inches – yes, it’s big enough to keep.” The human put the fish in the bottom of the canoe, withdrawing something silver to stick it into the top of the fish’s head. The fish immediately stopped flopping around.

“But what about eating it?” Sonic asked again.

“We’ll eat it, all right,” Tom said. “If we catch more before we head back, though, we’ll be able to eat it as well as bring some back for Maddie.” He had put away the silver item to open up the tackle box, withdrawing what looked like a metal chain of hooks. Taking one, he pinched it, causing it to open. He then opened the trout’s mouth and threaded the open hook through it so the trout was dangling by its mouth. Tom then snapped the hook closed. He took the rest of the chain and fastened it to one side of the canoe, letting the end with the trout dangle in the water, and turned back around.

“What? Why is your face doing that?”

“You just let my trout go!” Sonic panicked.

“No, no I didn’t. Look, Sonic.” Tom took the chain and lifted it up out of the water. The trout still dangled from the chain. “If it stays on the chain and under the water, it stays fresher. Okay?”

“Oh.” Sonic paused, weighing what Tom told him. “Okay.”

“Besides, if your trout leaves that hook, it’s either by magic or it’s by a pesky turtle,” Tom added. “Now, let me look at your bait.” Sonic wordlessly held out the pole, and Tom grasped the line, fingers sliding down to grasp the fly he had tied on to one end. He gave a sharp tug on the line.

“Seems fine.” He looked back up at Sonic and released the line. “You ready to catch another one?”

“Aye-aye, Donut Lord!” Sonic saluted. He was bounding on his toes with excitement. “Bet I catch more trout than you!”

“You’re on!”


	3. Chapter 3

“I caught more fish than Donut Lord!” Sonic sang as they trudged up the bank towards the truck. His speed showed his pent-up excitement; as soon as they laid eyes on the truck the blue hedgehog was doing multiple victory laps. “I caught more fish than Donut Lord! I caught more fish!” his multiple Sonics chanted in a close chorus as he continued to zip around and around.

“Sonic,” Tom sighed. “Could you help carry something?” The blue hedgehog turned around to see Tom juggling the fishing rods, the tacklebox, and the lunchbox.

“Okay!” In two flashes, he was back, holding the string of rainbow trout. “I got the fish, Donut Lord!” Tom smiled despite himself.

“Can you grab the canoe too?” Sonic looked at the fish he held and then back to Tom.

“But I’m holding the fish, Donut Lord. How can I grab the canoe _and_ hang on to the fish?” Sonic scoffed.

“Hmmm,” Tom pretended to think. “I guess you’re right. After all, how can I open the truck up with _my_ arms full?”

“On it!” Sonic disappeared with a fish; all Tom heard was grunting and panting. He turned around to see the hedgehog struggle with the canoe as he pulled it across the grass. He was torn between watching Sonic and wanting to help him out, but he stayed put. Dragging the canoe with the fish (probably) inside wasn’t going to damage the bottom – the ground was grassy and smooth, and there wasn’t enough weight in the canoe to cause it to dig into the ground. Besides, even with the kid struggling, he still made it to the truck in record time, panting heavier than normal (for sympathy, he bet).

“Ugh, all this child labor has utterly starved me,” Sonic complained. “Please open the truck, Donut Lord. I need air conditioning, campsite, food!” Chuckling yet again, Tom set down the rods, tacklebox, and lunchbox, and reached into his pocket. Moments later, an unlocking sound hit two sets of ears.

“YEAH!” Sonic yelled, jumping into the truck. “Finally some well-earned rest for the master fisherman himself.”

“What?” Tom pretended to be outraged. He rolled back the top of the bed cover, being careful as he replaced the tacklebox and fishing rods. “None for the poor guide who struggled to keep up with the master fisherman’s complaints and gripes?” After Sonic caught the first one, he had been forced to ground his own pole in order to keep up with both the hedgehog’s renewed enthusiasm and the trout he kept on catching.

“What? No way!” he heard Sonic say. “The guide only steered the boat; he didn’t catch the fish.” He found an empty bucket and slid the string of fish into it. He could clean those once they arrived at the campground.

“That may be true,” Tom said, closing the top. “But the guide is also the only one who knows how to clean the fish.” As he waited for a snarky response, he hoisted the canoe atop the bed’s surface, inching it towards the rack. Before he lifted up either end, he inspected it in the fading daylight. Just as he thought – no damage, cracks or otherwise. He took his time walking around either side of the truck, lifting up either end of the canoe and then using the bungee cords to fasten it down.

“… Okay, Donut Lord, I guess you can share some of my fish.” Tom laughed.

“Good thing Maddie isn’t here. She would have tackled you and tickled you to death to get some fish.” He gave the truck a once-over, nodding in approval before bending over to pick up the lunchbox.

“Donut Lord!” Sonic gasped. “How could you think I’d be so mean to Maddie??!!” Tom opened the door to the driver’s side of the truck and swung in, placing the lunchbox between himself and Sonic. “Of course I’d share with Pretzel Lady.”

“But not with Donut Lord?” Tom put on a wounded look. “Sonic, I’m hurt.”

“Okay, okay,” Sonic sniffed. “Since you’re helping me out, I suppose I could find it in my heart to grant you fish.”

“You think?” Tom inserted the keys into the ignition and turned them. He pulled out of the parking spot, gazing up at the sky. Red clouds dotted the sky, and the sunset though beginning was turning a darker shade of pink. He had a good feeling about tomorrow. As it was, even though they had stayed out a half hour later than desired, they’d still make it to the campground before it got too dark. “I will be cleaning the majority of them.”

“The majority?” Tom shrugged.

“Okay, all of them.”

“What? _I’m_ the one with supersonic speed. I can get done so much faster than you can.”

“Done? Yes. Will you clean them well though? That remains to be seen.” Tom pulled back onto the main stretch of road – one lonely highway – and continued southbound. “That is why I must teach you the ways of the fish, O young padawan.” Glancing quickly to the side, he caught Sonic’s face twisting into a laugh at the obviously clever joke, even though the hedgehog was trying to avoid doing so.

“Ew. Tooooommmm!” Sonic whined. “Not another dad joke, please!” Tom laughed back in response.

“Admit it, Sonic. You like my jokes.”

“Nuh-uh.” Sonic was quick to deny.

“I see you smiling,” Tom taunted, again glancing at the little hedgehog. The teenager immediately assumed a glare, although he could swear he saw the corners of his mouth twitch.

“See? Now I’m not smiling.”

“Sure, kid, Sure.” Tom checked his phone, which he had left charging in his truck from after they had visited the dam. No messages from Wade or Brad yet. He settled into his driver’s seat, watching the scenic view pass by at about fifty-five miles an hour. “Next stop, campsite.”

*******

When they got to the campsite, Sonic thought his human was mistaken. All it was was a patch of well-worn grass before a section of sandy beach, with grass, trees, and stone stretching out in miles on either side of them. He decided to observe before saying anything, and was glad he did. Within a minute of unloading, he saw the outlines where a tent had obviously been staked previously, as well as ashes within a circle of stones that equally as obviously had been a fire. He looked to the right; the tree line there must not be an accident as he had thought before. Even the beach appeared used, even if occasionally with a couple posts grounded for small boats to tie to.

He zoomed from the trees to the fire pit to the beach and back to the grassy area, and continued his circle for another couple rounds. It was different. Not like living on his own in a cave hidden by trees and grass and plants, and not like living with the Wachowskis in their attic where he had electricity and shelter and windows and blankets. To start with, the area that they were camping in almost seemed to be dug in between the two cliffs on either side, but was high enough above the water line to have its own beach. He could see forests dot the mountainous terrain in front of him and to the sides, and he could also see open stretches of rock that gave way to the enormous amount of _water_ that lay before him. He was excited, and yet nervous at the same time. How could that be? He had the whole world open to him from here, with few obstacles in his way. Hey, he had even traveled the whole world, seen some pretty amazing things, but this was what was causing him to pause?

“Sonic?” He turned to see Tom opening up the back of the pickup. “We still have enough daylight for you to go out and run if you want. I’ll start setting up camp.” Sonic gave the human a thumbs up.

“Okay, but no cleaning fish without me, Donut Lord!”

“No promises.” Tom opened up the bed of the truck, beginning to unpack.

“Come on!” Sonic whined, a smirk on his face. “I’m the speediest hedgehog alive! I’ll be back in flash!”

He thought he heard Tom say something. It was probably witty, or something _he_ thought was witty. But that didn’t matter since he was off! FINALLY! He ran to the east, feet plowing through grass until they tested pure, solid stone. “Woah, wow!” He laughed, slowing down to enjoy the different grip on his soles. “This is _completely_ different from blacktop!” He continued running towards the open sky ahead, enjoying the stone rushing beneath his feet, until that open sky became the floor.

“WOAH!” He skidded to a stop just in time. Sounds of water rushing hit his ears, and he avoided shuddering. _Too close_. The view was pretty awesome – his spot afforded him miles of an almost cloudless sky and the open lake twisting into the narrow river several miles down below. Despite the gigantic amount of water, the view was too amazing to be ignored. He tilted his muzzle into the sky and inhaled deeply. The air had a different smell to it too, probably because it was in such an awesome place!

“The BEST place on EARTH!” he yelled. “WOOH-HOO!” He laughed as he heard his voice reverberate around him. “Man, this is so awesome!” He wanted to run, still felt like running, but time seemed to trap him here, now, just to enjoy the view. So he did. Would it take long? No – his whole life revolved around going fast, so any moments like these never lasted more than a minute maybe. But he never passed these moments up – they were rare opportunities to just sit back and be Sonic.

Yeah, he was a hedgehog kid, dashing and handsome, gracing earth with his mere presence. So he had extraordinary powers that included super speed and the ability to electrocute any man-made machine, evil or otherwise. After ten years of running, he had a home, friends, and a family he belonged to.

If anyone was trying to find him, he really wished they wouldn’t.

A noise erupted behind him. Whirling around, he saw something furry scamper off to the side. “H-hey!” he protested. “It’s okay. Come back.” He tried to not walk after it, willing it silently to come closer. “It’s okay.” He saw something brown scamper back towards his direction, stopping several feet away. It was furry from head to toe, damp as well, with a long brown tail stretching out behind it. It sat on all four feet, clawed almost like a rat’s, and it’s beady eyes bored into him. It didn’t bother Sonic; it was just… weird.

“Dude,” he said, carefully taking a step towards it. It didn’t seem to run, content to just stare at him. “How are you wet? I thought rats didn’t like water. Why are you wet?” His brow furrowed, the teenager took a step back, taking another look over the wet, ratty-looking animal. The wet fur had a gloss to it that didn’t look like a normal wet animal, such as Ozzie when he decided plowing into the lake was a good idea. He continued to bombard the animal with questions, while said animal had decided he was apparently no threat to it and turned to the closest plant to begin chewing on it. “Why do you have claws? Wouldn’t paws be better for swimming? Why do –”

“Sonic!” he heard his name being called. Uh-oh. Well, he could always ask Tom. Tom would know.

“Sorry,” he apologized with a grin to the strange creature, “my human is calling me! Time to run!” he shouted with a wave, turning around to run back the same direction he had came from.

My human.

My dad.

 _Dad_.

Sonic’s smile grew in inches as he raced all the way back to the campsite.

*******

The tent had been no problem to set up. In fact, it probably helped that Sonic had decided to run while he set up camp. He loved the kid, he really did, but he wasn’t sure if super speed and rope and metal tentpoles were a good mix. Besides the tent, Tom had carried the canoe down to the beach and tied it to the post, put all the sleeping bags and his clothes duffel into the tent, and had gotten the campfire going. The coolers were scattered around the truck, with his favorite next to his feet. Now all that was left was to clean the fish. But first –

“SONIC!” he yelled. He spread a tarp over the tailgate of the truck. Taking the string of trout, he took off each fish and set them one at time into a pile, settling down over and into the grooves that sat closest to the bed. He set out two fillet boards, two fillet knives, a small plastic bucket, and hung a garbage bag from the truck bed, and waited for the blue blur to show up. As he waited, he reached into the cooler at his feet, a beaten up, faded red Playmate cooler, and withdrew a can of beer. He cracked it open and took a sip.

“Ew!” Managing to not spit out his drink, he looked down to see Sonic shaking a finger at him. “Gross, Donut Lord! How can you like that stuff?” the hedgehog whined.

“Through the magic of becoming an adult,” he deadpanned. “It’s something you’ll understand when you get older.”

“How _much_ older?” Sonic raised an eyebrow.

“At least another ten years,” Tom replied. “Or when I give you the okay to like this stuff.”

“Trust me.” Sonic pretended to gag. “You can _keep_ it.” Tom winked at him.

“Good to know. Now, let’s clean the trout. As you will notice,” he gestured at the setup, “I waited _just_ for you.”

“YES!” Two furry arms gave him an extremely fast hug before vanishing, a hug so fast he barely registered it. “Thank you, Dad.” The hedgehog bounced on his heels with excitement.

“No problem, son. I can’t let you go without teaching you the proper way to clean fish.” He picked up one trout and produced it with a flourish. “Especially a rainbow trout.” He turned back around to pick up a knife that he showed to the hedgehog. “The way I like to start is to flip the fish upside down onto the fillet board, and using the knife, I start from this small hole near the tiny fin here,” he demonstrated with careful, precise movements.

“It’s important that you start before this tiny fin, not between the tiny fin and the large, back fin, because then you start damaging the meat of the fish.” He gestured, making sure to point out the two fins at the tail end of the fish to Sonic before moving back to the tiny hole, inserting the knife and beginning to cut in a back-and-forth motion. He turned the fish on its side towards the kid, trying to give him as good a view of the fish as he could.

“You continue cutting up the belly,” he continued, “until you reach this v-shape here,” he took one hand off the fish and gestured towards the bottom of the fish’s jawline. “Now that I finished cutting to the jawline, without actually cutting it in half, I look up the fish,” he turned the fish back on its back to show Sonic the lower half of the fish’s face, “to see these little slits here, on either side and just below the mouth. I take the knife, and cut through the slits from the back all the way to and through the front.”

“Now this is where you’ll have to be careful,” he said, eyeing Sonic. The kid looked like he was bursting with questions, but was thankfully keeping quiet so far. “Grab the fish in one hand, with at least one finger below the jawline. Take your other hand’s index finger,” he said, ignoring the kid’s giggles, “and going through the mouth, reach back to the point where you cut to the jawline, hook and pull.” His result was much messier than he intended, with blood spurting out all over his hands and arms as he pulled out the jaw and guts from inside the fish. He continued to pull until the jawline was completely ripped from the carcass, leaving behind a crisp, clean edge to both fillets that were left behind.

“Ewwwwww!” he heard Sonic groan in the manner of appreciative teenage boys as he tossed the guts into the trash bag. “That’s so gross, Donut Lord!”

“Right?” he laughed. “Now all that’s left to do is to dig your finger into the top of the fish here to get the kidney out –”

“Ewwwwwww!” he heard Sonic laugh as he demonstrated, his finger turning a dark red as he dislodged the kidney – one piece at a time – and tossed that into the garbage as well. “My gloves are going to get soooo gross, Donut Lord!”

“Bet you the stains won’t last longer than five minutes,” Tom teased, tossing the fish into the plastic bucket. “And that’s it for now. We’ll rinse all of the fish _and_ our hands after we’re done cleaning them. Any questions?”

“Nope! I’m ready to go, Donut Lord!” A blue blur rushed up to join Tom at the tailgate, one white glove grasping ahold of the other fillet knife. “Let’s do this.” Tom kept himself from facepalming.

“Uh… Sonic?”

“Yeah?”

“The knife edge needs to face the outside.”

“So?”

“It’s going to be harder to cut if you keep it facing towards you.”

“So, I just gotta change it?” Before Tom could say anything, Sonic casually opened his hand up to twirl the knife in midair, and then catching it almost immediately afterwards. The sheriff had to talk his heart into beating again.

“Sonic?”

“… Yeah?”

“Please never EVER do that again.” Tom was trying to sound stern without yelling. He thought it was working, even though Sonic’s ears were drooping a little. God, the kid would kill him with cuteness. “You could have hurt yourself if you weren’t careful.”

“But I have super speed.”

“But that’s not the point. Next time, please just set it down before readjusting it.”

“Pfffff, you worry too much, Donut Lord. Now, watch me fillet faster than you.” Ears perked back up, Sonic started on his first fish. Tom also chose his own fish, eyeing the hedgehog carefully. Time started to pass by without a word being spoken until –

“Uh, Dad?” Sonic’s voice was hesitant. Not a good sign.

“Yeah?” Tom’s voice was soft with worry.

“I… uh… I think I cut my finger.” The hedgehog lifted up one index finger, blood oozing out onto the white glove. Tom studied it, and then looked at the fish.

“That was the finger you put into the fish’s mouth to take out the guts, right?” Sonic nodded. “Yeah, you cut it on their teeth.”

“Teeth?” Sonic looked confused. “Fish have _teeth_?” Tom bit back a sigh as he finished cutting his own fish.

“Wash your finger off in the water down there, and then come back. I’ll show you what I’m talking about.” At least the kid had cleaned three trout before reaching this point.

*******

“But how was _I_ supposed to know that trout had teeth?” Sonic whined. He sat on his camp chair, staring at said fish being turned on a spit over the campfire.

“True,” Tom said. He paused the spit, looking critically at the two fish he had pitted on it. These two were done. The rest of the fish he had rinsed off, bagged and placed into the cooler for Maddie. He reached over towards the cooler he kept close by and reached in, withdrawing two paper plates from inside. “Next time, I’m letting you take them off the line yourself.”

“Well, maybe don’t go that far, Donut Lord,” Sonic said with a smile, “I don’t mind you helping out the world’s _finest_ fisherman.” Heat from the fire was caressing his fur, keeping the minor pain from his cut finger from entering his mind.

“Hedgehog,” Tom corrected, bringing the spit towards him and sliding the fish onto the plates. “And I think you still need to give a _little_ credit to the guy who took you fishing.”

“Uh, no.” Seeing Tom’s raised eyebrow – and smelling the delicious fish he was carrying over – quickly changed his mind. “Okay, okay! Thank _you_ , O serious one, so much for taking _me_ , the amazing fisherman, out today,” Sonic said. In return, he got his paper plate of fish, along with a fork and knife. Tom set his own plate onto his camp chair that was next to Sonic’s, went and came back with the cooler. “And, thank you for… this,” he said, waving to the scenery around him. “All of it. It’s so cool. It’s so big! I mean, I knew it was this big, but I never thought about making it into an overnight trip, and I neverhadanyonetogowithbutIdonowand –”

“Woah, buddy,” Tom’s hand clapped on his back, interrupting his thanks-turned-pent-up-emotional-release. “Easy. Breathe, and eat your fish before it gets cold.” Sonic nodded, not wanting to say anymore (his pent-up emotions were getting the better of him _again_ ), and then an open can with a golden brownish substance was waved in front of him. “Baked beans?”

*******

“That was delicious!” Sonic patted his stomach. “My compliments to the chef!” he said in the fakest French accent possible. Tom stifled a laugh as he finished cleanup. He tied up the trash bag – fish guts, cans – and secured it inside the bed of the truck. He’d reuse it during the rest of the trip. Fortunately, toasted fish heads and paper plates were flammable.

“Just you wait. I haven’t finished yet. Ready for the greatest thing about camping?” he asked.

“Sleeping?” Sonic yawned. “What could top that?” Tom reached into the day’s cooler and instantly produced a white bag of gooey deliciousness.

“You’ve obviously never had S’mores.”

“Is that marshmallows?!” At the prospect of a sugar rush, the kid immediately perked up.

“Uh-huh. Just imagine them combined with graham crackers and chocolate.” Tom barely registered the cooler being taken from his fingertips; the next thing he saw was Sonic excitedly taking out the chocolate bars and graham crackers. “Hold your horses, kid! I gotta go get the roasting forks,” he laughed. He turned towards the truck.

“Don’t yell at me if you take _too long_ , Donut Lord,” he heard Sonic yell at him. He chuckled. Reaching the truck, he opened up the passenger side door and reached into the back. It was mostly empty besides the cookstove, and he’d replace the rest of the cooking utensils once they were cleaned. He grabbed the two roasting forks – long pieces of metal that each turned into two spikes at one end with wooden handles at the other – and began to head back out of the truck. He paused at the sight of the glove box. It was as good of a time as any, and as much as he wished to hold it back until the last night, he knew it had to be now. The more time the kid had to process, the better off he’d take Maddie’s congratulatory party when they got back – hopefully.

“Hurry up, Dad!” he heard the hedgehog call again, and that decided it. _Dad_. Resting the forks on the seat, he opened the glove box up, took out a manila envelope, and closed the glove box. Hopping down, he grabbed the forks with the free hand and used his elbow to swing the truck door shut. He walked back to the campfire, trying to not look as pleased and hopeful as he felt.

“I got the forks, Sonic,” he said, sitting back down in his camp chair. “Here. Allow me to do the honors.” Sonic handed him the bag of marshmallows; he handed the hedgehog the envelope.

“Uh… Donut Lord, what’s this?” Sonic asked him. He thought he heard a little nervousness in the question.

“Your present,” Tom answered just as he had practiced. “I’ll roast the marshmallows, you open your present.” He turned his eyes back to the fire, ears perked to the sound of a paper envelope opening and heart pounding.

*******

Sonic was careful as he opened the envelope, heart pounding in his chest for reasons unknown. It was a gift, sure, but it seemed to mean something really special to his human, otherwise he would’ve been all over it with his incredible wit. Inside the envelope were several sheets of white paper that he was careful to pull out. He squinted as he tried to get a better angle for reading – the firelight danced between just bright enough and just too dim. He had to read through the top page twice before understanding lit up his brain. He turned to Tom. “These are my… my…” he faltered, trying to catch the words that were running circles around his brain. Tom turned to him and nodded.

“Yeah. Those are your adoption papers.” His human’s voice sounded rough, almost like he was going cry. No, not just his human anymore. His _dad_ , confirmed by the paperwork he held. Darn it, now _he_ was going to cry. He held the papers steady as he breathed deep, trying to find something witty to say, something snarky to get them both laughing. Or arguing. Anything to avoid this _crying_ crap. He quickly paged through the rest of the stack, stopping only at the very last page. Even in the firelight he could tell it was different from the rest, given the swirly border and the way the letters were raised. The center read: Sonic Wachowski. Same name listed on the rest of the papers, except this gave him a date of birth, and listed one Thomas Wachowski as his dad, and one Maddie Wachowski as his mother. One certified-by-the-state of Montana birth certificate.

“How – how did you get this to happen?” Sonic asked, throat almost closing with a tidal wave of emotion. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the papers, fighting back an insane fear that they’d disappear if he looked away.

“When we used our last name to enroll you, the public school was okay with it – until the county had a problem with you not being in their official records. And the state. Okay, and the Department of Education,” Tom amended. “So, I called up to the government guy who gave us the Olive Garden gift card and asked if we could get some things taken care of. Surprisingly, he was very helpful when I asked for the government report regarding the actions of a certain Robotnik. The paperwork arrived about three weeks ago.”

“When you said we’d be going on this trip,” Sonic thought aloud. He looked back up at Tom as his hands crinkled the papers with a death grip. Questions ran through his mind like how he ran through the Flash comics, but only one was important to ask. “So, you’re really okay with me calling you ‘dad’ and Maddie ‘mom’?” he croaked. “Really really _reallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyREALLY_ okay with it?” Tom kept looking at him and nodded.

“Kid, when we took you in, we meant it. All the times we’ve called you ‘son’ – accidentally or not – we’ve meant it. These papers? We mean it for keeps.” The pain aching at the corners of his mouth made Sonic realize how hard he was smiling. He didn’t stop.

“But, it’s still okay if I call you ‘Donut Lord’ and mom ‘Pretzel Lady’ sometimes, right?” he asked.

“Sonic, I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Tom smiled back at him. Sonic sniffed, feeling something inside him break as one of Tom’s arms came around to draw him into a hug. Sure, he didn’t really _need_ the papers, birth certificate, or any of the rest of the paperwork. But it was nice. No, it was more than _nice_.

“ _I’m_ not crying. _You’re_ crying,” he sobbed into Tom’s arm.

“Son,” he heard his dad huff, “we’re _both_ crying. Stop.” The hedgehog grabbed and clung to the arm that was wrapped around him. He felt Tom stroking the top of his head with the other hand. Normally he’d feel sleepy whenever Tom did that, but this time it only made him cling tighter as he stared into the fire. He didn’t want to get all mushy – or more mushy – but he felt lighter than he had in the ten years he had been world-hopping, even compared to the past year when Tom took him in. _This_ was the best day of his life.

It didn’t matter that the first set of marshmallows were burned or that they tasted like ash on his tongue. It didn’t matter that he got marshmallow goo all over his gloved hands. And he didn’t care that the first couple raindrops brought on a shower that caused them both to fold up their chairs, get their gear under the tarp, and get to bed early in the tent. Thunder rumbled in the distance as he snuggled up against Tom’s chest, one hand enmeshed within the loose shirt, and one hand clutching the envelope of paperwork.

Having the papers only confirmed what he already knew: He had a home, he belonged to somebody, and he was loved.

But to have them in his hands made that knowledge _real_.

*******

Thunder shook the Montana landscape as lightning pierced the sky, a terrifying duo that could only perform their dance under appreciation together. Rain continued to pour down from the heavens, soaked up by the ground until even the soil protested. Puddles formed wherever ground and gravity were lowest.

The two solitary campers slept soundly in their snug tent, with no tears or cracks that would let water through to disturb their slumber. The tent itself was pitched high enough on a gentle downward slope so no rainwater would collect and puddle underneath it. The tarp spread out over it, long enough to cover a pile of firewood and hastily moved lawn chairs and firewood. Up the slope from the two sleepers was Tom’s truck, doors shut and locked, windows closed and bed and tailgate shut tight. Tom had thought of everything.

Everything except his cell phone, which was still plugged into the cigarette lighter to remain fully charged.

The screen lit up, and a familiar face popped up as the phone began to vibrate. The phone continued to vibrate and vibrate until the attempted call ended. Moments later, the same face popped up, trying desperately to get the owner’s attention as his second attempt at calling once again vibrated the phone where it sat in the cupholder. The caller would curse desperately as he continued to call again and again, hoping to reach his friend.

It was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Solar Socks for this amazing picture! Check it out! https://solar-socks.tumblr.com/image/620343435060232192


	4. Chapter 4

Tom was woken up by the rain. Opening his eyes, he found the top of the inside of the tent. He watched lazily as water droplets pattered against the surface of the canvas, their falls only evidenced by the trails of water they left behind moments before being taken over by more water droplets. He kept himself from turning on his side though.

Sonic was still sleeping on his chest.

Fondness swelled within him as he saw Sonic’s hands were loosely tangled into his shirt. He looked down to his right, where the adoption papers were sitting, folded back up nice and neat into the envelope. They must have fallen from Sonic’s hand during the night. Of all the reactions he had prepared for, he had been completely taken aback by the one Sonic displayed last night. He had heard a variety of advice that ranged from ‘expect the kid to be angry’ to ‘expect the kid to be happy _and_ angry’, but nothing included breaking down and crying out of pure joy. He even included a separate sleeping bag and pillow and blanket, but the kid still insisted on physical affection. Not that he was complaining.

Doubts still hounded him. He had seen multiple times that Sonic still suffered from the ten years he had spent utterly _alone_. He should have done this earlier. He shouldn’t have waited this long. But the sheriff knew that this was the best timing he could have hoped for. Besides waiting for the slow wheels of the government to grind out his (hoped for) result, he wanted Sonic to adjust to a regular school schedule as well as adjust to living with Maddie and him. That adjustment hadn’t been easy, but together they had helped Sonic through the nightmares and panic attacks and guilt trips. This wasn’t going to replace what he and Maddie were doing for Sonic – but it was a promise. If Tom had his way, he’d make sure Sonic never felt alone or abandoned again.

Speaking of having his way, the rain was killing his plans for the morning. He had hoped to start it off with fishing, but if it continued to rain this heavy, he wasn’t going to go out. He looked around for his phone. He needed to check the time first, and the radar after. He did as much searching as he could while trying to keep from moving his son.

Where was it? Dammit, he must have left it in the truck. He looked down at the sleeping hedgehog. He didn’t want to wake the little guy, but he had no choice. He had to know what time it was. The rain was throwing off his sense of time, and he’d like to know what the forecast was for the area. The rain may have thrown off his plans, but he was a flexible kind of guy. He could make the rest of the weekend work.

Second problem: how to dislodge his hedgehog? The quills were relaxed, so those weren’t a problem. The rest of the hedgehog was practically glued onto him, and he wanted the transition to be as smooth as possible so he wouldn’t wake – in case the time was 4 am and not 6 am. Dragging the rest of the sleeping bag up with his feet, he created enough of a cushion that he felt fairly reasonable would support the hedgehog. With a gentle shrugging motion, he slipped free from the boy’s grasp and deposited him into the plushy fabric. He was free to move.

Until he realized that his arm was being abducted. He looked back to see sleepy green eyes open, focusing on him. He smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, buddy, didn’t mean to wake you. Go back to sleep.”

“’s it time to wake up?” the boy asked sluggishly. “Cuz if so, I wanna wake up too.”

“It might be, but I don’t know,” Tom was forced to admit. “I have to check on the time, and I left my phone in the truck.”

“Laaaaaaame,” Sonic snorted. “Leaving your phone locked up where it’s wet and cold outside. You should just summon it with your incredible powers of persuasion, Donut Lord.”

“Uh-oh, my powers don’t want to work. I guess my only option is to walk outside,” Tom sighed dramatically. Sonic curled up within the folds of the sleeping bag.

“You go,” he heard. “’s warm here. Don’t get soaked.”

“So good to see your thoughtfulness towards your old man is coming from a heart of gold,” Tom teased. Sonic didn’t bite though, and he soon heard snoring from the cozy little bundle. Tom shook his head with amusement as he grabbed his sneakers and pulled them on. Unzipping the tent, he observed the outdoors for a moment. He didn’t think anything would be out and about now, but caution never hurt a soul. Satisfied, he patted his pockets for the keys and pulled them out, glad he hadn’t changed his clothes, with the sole exception being a fleece, long-sleeved shirt.

He swung his legs outside the opening and twisted the rest of his body through. Standing, he made his way to the truck. Despite the downpour, the rain was quite warm for this time of year. He was grateful for that. Using the remote, he unlocked the truck doors as he came closer. He opened the driver’s side door and grabbed his phone. A quick glance at the screen told him it was half past seven in the morning. Perfect – not too early, but they hadn’t slept in too late either. He was about to head out when another glance at the screen gave him pause. Eleven missed calls.

“Wonder what Brad wanted?” Tom frowned in momentary confusion as he checked his voicemail. No message was left, but that wasn’t uncommon this far outdoors where cell service was spotty. He dialed the number and swung inside the truck, closing the door behind him. No sense in standing outside getting soaked when he could check in with his friend in a much drier spot. He combed his fingers through his wet hair as he waited for his friend to pick up.

“Tom?” Brad sounded exhausted.

“Hey, Brad. Why’d you leave so many messages? Miss me already?” Tom joked.

“Oh. My. God. Where WERE you? I’ve been CALLING you ALL NIGHT! I was just about to call you yet AGAIN!” Tom winced and pulled his ear back enough from the phone’s speaker so he wouldn’t prematurely go deaf.

“Geez, Brad, I know we just barely got the chance to catch up yesterday, but calm down. You’re reacting worse than a white girl without her Starbucks,” he continued to try to be funny, even as he grew concerned. What was he missing?

“Listen to me, okay? You got to leave NOW, Tom! RIGHT now!”

“Why, Brad? I thought you said the weather was going to be fine – minus this rain, of course.” Gesturing was pointless since Brad couldn’t see him, so he settled for aiming a mild glare into the darkened woods ahead.

“This storm popped up out of nowhere. Not only is it torrential downpours everywhere all over the state, but it brought warm weather.”

“Okay…?” Tom let the question hang out there for a second.

“Tom, it got so warm it took the rest of the snow off of the mountains in one go, or what we’re guessing is the rest of it. That snow just hit the water and tore through the dam just less than an hour ago. It took a hell of a lot of trees and rocks with it, too.”

“Wait, wait… it tore _through_ the dam?” Tom asked. “Not _under_ it, but _through_ it?”

“Yeah. The dam is broken, Tom. The lake is thankfully giving us time due to how large it is to warn everyone, but it will flood fully within the next hour, and it will continue to flood everything downstream of us.”

“Then why call so often during the night?” Tom asked, confused. “I understand calling _now_ , but you were calling since,” he quickly checked his call history, “eleven o’clock last night. Why?” He heard Brad send a frustrated groan his way.

“Because those were just to let you know that first, the water level rose ten inches at least _and_ continues to climb; and second, that the snow was starting to melt. We never counted on at least half of the mountainside melting though, its contents adding to the already-swollen river that feeds into the lake, nor the dam being torn through faster than a bear through a dumpster. It just continued to build, Tom, from just a warning about the rising water line to a full out alert for a flash flood.” The sheriff received a chill at those words.

“Flash flood? You sure, Brad?” He tried to keep his tone light. In between catching up with Brad, he never asked how many disasters the guy faced every summer, and Brad never volunteered the answer. He would bet that with the dam breaking and this flash flood warning that his friend was experiencing the busiest time of his life – jokes to be made later.

“Positive, Tom. You know I wouldn’t waste your time like this.” That was true. He’d known Brad for quite a few years now. He might enjoying riffing on others, but he would never joke about a scenario this serious. And large though the lake was, the water would reach them with the dam gone. It was just a question of time.

“Anyone else you know staying around the lake now? Were evacuation orders given? Any known casualties?” he asked, easily slipping into sheriff mode.

“An unusually light crowd, thank God. We’ve just started giving evacuation orders to the Holter Lake campground, as well as Log Gulch and Departure Point Recreation campgrounds. That won’t reach the more solitary campers necessarily, but we do have rangers out combing the known sites in order to warn anyone camping there.” Tom exhaled slowly. “I know what I’m doing, Tom. Don’t worry about everyone else. Just get you and Sonic on out of there.”

“How much time you think we got before the water starts to flood us out?” he asked, taking stock of the campsite he had set up.

“Maybe an hour tops.” That would be just enough time to get everything in the truck and go, Tom realized. “The readings are still picking up even as we speak, because God knows we _had_ to get the Mississippi River to join the party too.” Brad sounded exhausted. God knew exactly what the guy had to do because of this mess, but Tom would bet his family’s farm that Brad would fill him in when he’d invite him over later. Maddie would be okay with that.

“Okay. Thanks, Brad. I’ll call you when Sonic and I get clear.”

“That’s all I ask for. By the way, thanks for _finally_ picking up the phone, you bastard.”

“Yeah, that might have been me leaving it in the truck to charge,” Tom laughed a bit, embarrassed.

“Tom, what have – you know what? I’ll chew you out later. GET MOVING!”

“10-4, Mr. Park Ranger,” Tom said sarcastically. “You be safe too,” he added softly, but the phone was already beeping with the dropped call. They would have enough time to catch up later. He had his own crap to worry about now.

*******

He just couldn’t get a break. One minute, Sonic was engulfed in soft, comfortable warmth that was keeping him sleepy enough to avoid waking up completely. The next, some horribly, nasty, evil person had ripped away the sleeping bag, exposing his poor body to the wet and cold. He curled into a ball and shivered, desperately trying to keep warm.

“Sonic,” he heard Tom’s voice. “C’mon. Get up. It’s not that bad.”

“Easy for you to say,” he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes. “You already went outside.” He opened his eyes to see that Tom’s shirt was soaked through, and rainwater dripped from his hair. He stretched and yawned. “So, what time is it?”

“Close to eight o’clock.” Tom began rolling up the sleeping bag.

“What are we doing today?”

“Packing up to get on out of here,” Tom replied.

“What?? WHY???” Sonic shouted, dismayed. “I thought we were supposed to stay here the whole weekend!” He reached for his red-and-white shoes as he said that, putting them on as he continued to watch his dad.

“We were, Sonic, but Brad called.” Tom wiped rainwater from his eyes as he threw clothes back into the duffel. “The lake was flooded by too much snow and too much rainwater, and on top of that, the dam broke. He says we have maybe an hour to get out of here.”

“A-an hour? Really? Water moves _that_ fast, huh?” Sonic’s eyes dropped to his feet. Yesterday it had seemed so calm and peaceful. He had almost forgotten what it really was – dark, cold, and consuming. He put his hands together and started to fidget.

“Yeah, apparently me planning ahead for this meant we got the worst weekend of the summer,” Tom laughed lightly. Sonic tried to laugh, but he couldn’t make the sound. He continued to stare at his hands as they started to shake. Then two calloused hands covered his own.

“Hey, Sonic, look at me.” Sonic lifted his head up to see Tom staring at him. It wasn’t a stern look, for he could see compassion behind those eyes. But the way his face was set was more in line with the way he looked on the job – his sheriff face. “I’m going to need your help, buddy, okay? I need your help to get us packed so we can leave.”

“The water won’t dr-follow us, will it?” Sonic asked. He ignored the fact that he almost said the ‘d’ word.

“No it won’t. We’ll get to higher ground, and the water can’t reach us.” That was that. This wasn’t going to be like that mishap at the pool. They had time to get to safety.

“O-okay.” Tom nodded.

“I’m proud of you, Sonic.” The blue hedgehog kept his focus on the human’s face and nodded wordlessly. The human grabbed the packed duffle and the sleeping bags and sprinted outside, barely ducking as rainwater hit him in sheets. Was it just him, or did it seem like it was raining harder than before? Sonic shivered but collected himself as he grabbed the pillows, the blanket, and looked around one last time for anything else he might have been missing.

The _envelope_. There it lay on the tent floor, miraculously untouched. He quickly tossed the blanket over his quills (where it would stay) and used that empty hand to clutch the envelope. He shifted the blanket over that one arm. There was _no way_ he was losing that now.

He dashed outside, clutching the envelope close as the blanket shielded him enough for his mad dash to the truck. He deposited the envelope in the front seat, but then thought better of it. It would easily get soaked if it stayed there. Where to put it? There was a middle compartment, but then there was the glove box. The middle compartment would be easier for him to open on the ride out. He opened up the top of the compartment and gently set the envelope inside so the top wouldn’t catch the envelope. Closing the compartment, he took the now-soaked blanket and tossed it in back over the cooking supplies. The pillows were next. He then dashed out of the truck, slamming the door shut behind him.

The speed was not helping him stay dry. Rainwater seemed to pelt him from all directions regardless of speed, but going faster somehow made the rain hit him faster. It reminded him a little too much of the years he spent alone, whether here on Earth or on other planets. Not only did he hate to be wet, but rain was so _isolating_. It might as well be a curtain separating you from everyone else, keeping you from being found.

“I don’t think nature got the memo that I SHOWERED yesterday!” he hollered, trying to sound like his normal cocky self. He thought he heard a laugh as he finally made it to his dad. Tom was taking the tarp off of the tent and folding it in the sloppiest way possible. He then bent over the lines holding the tent steady. Sonic slowed down to a stop.

“What do you want me to take, Donut Lord?” he asked.

“First, open the back up for me.” Tom wasted no time even as he paused and quickly shook his face. Even with the pouring rain, Sonic noticed the water droplets fly everywhere. “Including the top – roll it all the way back.”

“But won’t everything get wet?”

“Well yeah, but _everything_ is wet right now. Plus, we kinda need to leave _now_.” Despite the obvious attempt to sound sarcastic, his dad’s statement sounded more serious than probably was intended. That did not ease Sonic’s fears, but shrugging off fear was what he did best.

“On it!” Sonic rushed to the truck where he rolled the top as far back as he could until it hit the canoe rack. Then he let the tailgate drop open. He rushed back. In the seconds that he completed those minor tasks (again, rainwater was a real buzzkill), Tom had the tarp and the firewood ready for him to pack away. He was told to pack it in as tightly as possible. He did as he was told. It wasn’t every day that he saw Donut Lord this worried.

He rushed back. This trip was the tent and the camp chairs. He walked as fast as he could to back to the truck – the tent was folded, but it wasn’t in its bag – and stuffed them both in. The tent sprayed him with water as he stuffed it between and around the rest of the items inside the bed. He wiped rainwater from his eyes and shook his head quick. It didn’t make him feel any drier, but at least he felt he had one less river trying to run down his forehead. He stepped off the truck and landed in the muddy grass. He looked back to where Tom was walking up with both of the coolers, one in each hand, and frowned. They were forgetting something, but what was it?

“Donut Lord!” he called out as he rushed up to face his human. “I got the tent and the tarp and the camp chairs and the firewood in like you asked.”

“Good, Sonic,” Tom said, shaking his head again to get the water away from his eyes. “Get in the truck.”

“But…” Sonic searched for words. “I-I-I-I-I think we’re missing something.” Tom looked at him in confusion.

“Missing something?” As if they had both drawn the same conclusion, they glanced towards the beach.

“THE CANOE!” they chorused. Said canoe bobbed in the water gently, unaware that it had almost been left behind.

“I’ll get it!” Sonic sang as he ran to the beach.

“Wait, Sonic, let me –” Tom tried to start.

“Too late, Donut Dad, I’m already here!” he bragged, kicking at the soggy sand with his shoes. “Like I said, I’ll get it.” Tom muttered something unintelligible but he turned back towards the truck with the coolers in tow. Sonic looked out towards the lake. He could barely see out given the darkness and the pouring rain, but he didn’t see anything. His shoulders relaxed. Everything was going to be fine. He went to grab the canoe that was just sitting there, on the water.

“Whoa, what?” He looked down, shivering from the sudden cold. Lake water surrounded both ankles, forming a seamless pool of dark glass that appeared to be swallowing him whole. He shivered again, but looked up. The canoe was still there, tied to the post. The water must have risen high enough to cover the beach like this. The hedgehog walked forward, hearing water slosh as his legs kept him steady. He continued to breathe, thinking about all the chili dogs he could get out of Tom once they got out of there. Then, gloved hands reach out to grasp around the grounded stake, steadying him.

“Made it!” Sonic said aloud, to no one present. He didn’t let the silence stop him as he untied the canoe and pulled it towards him, both hands grasping the rope. He studied it, mesmerized for a couple seconds. It wasn’t coming directly _at_ him as he was pulling on it. It was moving to the _right_ of him. He frowned, distracted for the moment from the pouring rain and the cold water freezing his legs. Why would it do that? He let out more rope to see if it would continue to swing to the right. As he did, he thought he felt the water around his legs start to flow the same direction. Now that was just silly. Why would the water be flowing the same way the boat was?

Wait, water would flow whichever direction it chose, known as a current. The canoe would just follow whichever way the current was flowing. And if the water was flowing right, then the canoe would follow its lead. Sure enough, the canoe kept floating off to the right as well. He held tight, not wanting to lose the boat. But the rope went taught against his wrist, and the boat continued to drift right, towards the corner end of the beach where the lake rushed past. Now it felt like it was being pulled from him, as if water was actually pushing towards the right and it wanted the canoe and Sonic to come with it. He started to tug back on the rope. The canoe continued to act like it was stuck going right. Stuck somehow out in the water? That couldn’t be right.

“Sonic!” he heard. Looking back briefly, he saw Tom running towards him. He couldn’t see the human’s face, but he was relieved that he could just see his dad. “Come on, Sonic, get the boat in!”

“I’m trying, Donut Lord, but it’s like it’s stuck or something,” he said, turning back around to face the boat. “Maybe if I reach out and make a grab for it…?” he mused. Tentatively, he reached out for the boat end while taking another step forward. He regretted it – the water that had been around his ankles was now around his chest. His shivering increased, the hedgehog continued to reach for the canoe. It was still being pulled by the water – and now, so was he. Feeling something hit his knees, he buckled face-first into the water. Thrashing around in the dark, cold water where he couldn’t see anything, he still clung to the canoe rope. For what reason, he couldn’t think of one. Fear instead clouded his mind, forcing his usual snark, optimism, and general good humor back as one thought came forward: _how do I survive this_? Fortunately, a pair of strong arms encircled him, bringing him back up for air.

“Breathe, Sonic,” Tom said as he coughed and hacked lake water out of his lungs. “Just breathe.” Sonic’s chest felt more compressed than usual, but that was explained by how his human was holding him. Water still surrounded the both of them, lapping at Tom’s chest – and his as well, inches below his chin. His arms dropped to rest on Tom’s shoulders as he continued to cough. Rainwater once again pelted his face.

“D-Dad, ho-ho-how did you –”

“I was walking towards you as you got swept off your feet. Just fast enough. Thank God you were still hanging onto the rope tied to the canoe.” He held up the end of the rope that Sonic still held. “The current is trying to take me too. I can feel it picking up. We need to go now. Don’t worry – I got the canoe.” Sonic buried his face into Tom’s chest for a moment. _And he’s got me_. Everything was going to be okay now. Tom began to turn towards the shore. Sonic lifted his head to look back, breathing deeper as he tried to see past the sheets of rain. That’s when he saw something.

“Uh, Tom, what’s happening?” Sonic asked nervously. Just barely fifty feet away from where Tom and he stood chest deep in the water was a dark shadow rising. It was textured with the remnants of trees and logs, but it moved too smooth – like water. He was mesmerized by the movement. Why _was_ he nervous? He could easily escape it. It looked so _slow_. Then a dull roar hit his ears and he looked left.

“Tom! Tom!” he shouted “Look left. What is that?” Tom stopped and glanced left, and his face, though barely seen, went white.

“Hold on!” Tom turned around towards the canoe and in one motion yanked it closer. He grabbed it with the other hand. “Get into the canoe now!” Sonic jumped in, scooting towards the other end so Tom could get in. He was glad he did. As soon as Tom picked himself up and over into the inside, the canoe shot past the beach and into the darkness. Sonic felt some of his normal optimism return.

“Woohoo!” he cheered, choosing that over worrying about the darkness ahead. “This is some ride!”

“It’s no ride, Sonic,” Tom gasped out, wiping his eyes. “It’s a flash flood.” Sonic frowned as he shivered, holding on to the seat tightly.

“A _what_?”

That was when he felt his world go upside down and the air in his lungs be replaced by cold water.


	5. Chapter 5

It was wet. It was dark. It was _cold_.

Pitch black meant that Sonic couldn’t see past his muzzle. The water irritated his eyes, but he kept them open, afraid to miss anything. He kept his hands grasped around the seat of the canoe – at least, he _thought_ it was the seat of the canoe. He had made a grab for it when he felt his world go sideways. The water – or trees, or something – must have tipped the canoe over. He hoped Tom would know how to get them out of this.

Tom! His human had been reaching for him when everything went sideways. Was he all right? Was he even here? No, Sonic refused to let his thoughts get darker than the water. For one, he needed to remain upbeat, and second, he needed to figure out how to get air and fast. He was all alone in the canoe that was tipped over with dark water surrounding him on all sides and oh godhislungsweregivingouthecouldn’tholdhisbreathanymorebutifhedidn’the’dinhalewaterandthenitwouldbethepoolincidentallover –

He felt something grab the scruff of his neck and pull him up into air! AIR! Oh thank the heavens! He coughed and coughed until he was sure he was breathing air and not lake water. “Grab onto the seat like this, Sonic.” Tom demonstrated it by grasping Sonic’s hands one at a time and placing them in the center of the upside-down seat, folding the fingers over the opposite edge of the metal for insurance. Good thing _this_ wasn’t underwater. The hand at the back of his neck disappeared as Sonic slumped over the metal seat, still coughing. His lungs felt like they were going to explode, but he continued to force himself to breathe. The human’s hands went on either side of Sonic’s as they also grasped onto the seat, looking almost absurdly small next to the white gloves. Sonic’s coughs turned into laughs.

“What’s so funny?” Tom asked.

“Your hands look so small compared to mine!” Sonic wheezed. “I can’t believe you saved me with such tiny hands.”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” the sheriff tossed back. “Just make sure to keep your head _above_ the water next time, okay?” Sonic stopped laughing, looking at his dad wide-eyed in shock. The darkness was not enough to stop him from reading his dad’s facial expression. He almost wished it did.

“Are… are you okay?” Tom blew out a breath, which didn’t erase the look of frustration on his face. Sonic’s shock turned into worry. He knew Tom’s expressions inside and out (thanks to years of research). Tom would get frustrated, agitated, and occasionally angry, but he could turn it all on a dime into snarky cop humor. His look of frustration wasn’t leaving though, and no jokes seemed forthcoming. A seed of worry was planted inside Sonic’s mind.

“No, kid. I’m sorry; I’m just frustrated.” He flashed a smile at Sonic before worry again covered his features. Sonic’s own worry grew. “I’m trying to think how I can get us out of this.” This was bad. This was _very_ bad.

“But you don’t need to worry,” Sonic tried to reassure his human. He saw an eyebrow raise. Time to be the funny one. “Okay, so we’re hanging on to dear life inside our canoe that got tipped over, the water’s cold, and it’s still dark out. The water doesn’t seem to be moving any faster than it was back at the beach.”

“That’s because we’re _inside_ the canoe right now, and I’m sitting deeper in the water than you. I can feel the current just around my ankles. We’re getting pulled downstream fast.” Something hit the side of the canoe with a loud “whump”, causing both hedgehog and human to jerk to one side. “Did I mention the debris?” Sonic gasped in alarm, while Tom just rolled his eyes. “Yeah, there’s the debris.” Then the canoe jostled to the other side with a similar noise, except this was a “whump” with a loud and long scraping noise. It was so loud that Sonic became afraid that the side of the canoe would suddenly break open, with whatever was causing the noise to come through and expose them to whatever it was that lay outside. It ended, though, and the canoe remained intact. “If given another choice to restate our situation, we’re inside a water ride filled with unpredictable bumper cars.” That joke _almost_ made Sonic laugh. His ears lying back on his head, he gripped the seat even harder. _I wish that this was all just a bad dream_ , he thought. _Maybe if I slow it down, it won’t seem so bad_. Another jolt of the canoe forced him to realize otherwise. _Will white knuckles show through white gloves?_ he thought, almost panicked. He didn’t know. This had never happened before.

“Sonic.” _It’s all my fault_. Two human hands covered his own, but he didn’t want to look up this time. _I can’t look at him_. “Sonic, look at me.” _No_. “It’s going to be okay.”

“No, it’s not!” he burst, giving in and looking up at his human. It only caused the rest of his locked-up emotions to pour out of him. “It’s NOT!” He winced as his shout echoed louder around the inside of the canoe, and he saw Tom wince as well. “We’re probably in the middle of the _lake_ right now, with all that crap that just tipped us over, and I don’t know where we’re headed! I’m cold and wet and I’ve breathed in _so much water_ , and I’ve never seen you this worried before!”

“Sonic, I – ”

“You have your cop face on, but there’s no snarky cop humor along with it. This is just like when you were in the hospital because of that _stupid_ horse! That tells me that this flash flood is worse than something that’s annoying or irritating or _bad_ , as if being _soaked_ and _wet_ and _cold_ weren’t enough! And worst of all, it’s ALL MY FAULT that we’re here!” His voice rose again, even as he tried to compress everything down again so he could be happy, positive, anything other than what he was now.

 _Scared_.

“Well, I guess sooner or later you’d find out my secret identity,” Tom deadpanned. Sonic just glared at him, too emotionally exhausted to go for a lame joke like that. “Kid – _son_ – you’re right.” The hold on his gloves tightened even as the canoe shook again. “Things are bad right now. Flash floods are known for fast water, lots of debris, and unpredictable currents. They’re bad enough where we could get injured. And we don’t know where we’ll end up.” He heard Tom pause, and braced himself for more. “But they’re not so bad that we won’t make it out. Even with what I said about flash floods, Sonic, I’m confident that we’ll get out of this. Yeah, there goes our camping trip, but we’ll have amazing stories to tell when we get back home. We’ll _both_ make it out of this, Sonic. Trust me.”

  
“Promise?” Sonic hated the quiver in his voice. It made him sound young, needy, dependent, everything that he ~~definitely was not~~ hated. Everything he had accumulated over ten years of abandonment.

“Promise.” But having Tom in his life for almost a year more than made up for the ten years he had spent alone. “And don’t blame yourself, kiddo. You didn’t mean for us to end up here. It was just an accident.” He felt his quills get ruffled, and despite being cold and wet he felt himself relax just a tad under the brief touch. “Like I said, I’m trying to get us out of here. It might be a bit before that happens, but trust me. I’ll figure something out.”

“O-o-okay,” Sonic replied. He startled as he heard another scraping noise along the edge of the canoe. He scanned the sides, but even with the darkness he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. He wouldn’t of course – he was inside the canoe. Duh. He continued to kick his legs in the water as he continued to clutch the seat, his motivation for keeping his legs moving as murky as the water itself.

“You okay, buddy?” He heard the question and looked up towards his human.

“Just thinking.” His mouth moved faster than he could stop it. _Dang it_.

“About the pool incident?” Whether he wanted to blame it on the water or not, Sonic shivered, glancing back down.

“And here I thought I could ignore it until you brought it up,” he mumbled. He heard Tom sigh.

“I’m sorry, kid.”

“I should be sorry. If I would have listened to you, I wouldn’t have a crazy, insane fear over stupid _water_.” _And we wouldn’t be here_ , his mind added. He should have listened to Tom. Let Tom get the canoe. Why did he think _he_ could grab it? _You didn’t know about the current_ , his mind said, but he brushed it off. He should have known. _What are powers for if I can’t prevent stuff like this from happening_? Why couldn’t he have the ability to speed back into the past and change it, like the Flash?

“You were eager to try out the diving board. _I_ should have been paying more attention to what you were doing.”

“It’s not your fault.” He couldn’t let Tom take the blame for that. He had been so eager to dive off the diving board that he had forgotten to check the depth of the water. Inhaling half the pool while floundering uselessly brought a wake up call to never again just blindly jump into any body of water. Tom had fished him out and given him CPR, and fortunately Maddie didn’t completely go crazy trying to mother the life back into him. He left the diving board alone after that.

Tom had made it his goal to teach him the basics of swimming, which included floating. He had improved at swimming but preferred floating, and while he would float in the shallows all he wanted he still wouldn’t go back to the diving board. Floating was okay. Floating meant your muzzle was above the water. Floating meant you could see and breathe. And here they were floating, but while he could still breathe he could only barely see his dad. And unlike the shallows in the pool or the beach, his feet could not touch the bottom when he got tired.

“Sonic, talk to me.”

“No.” Sonic ducked his head quickly. He jerked it back up as he heard another scraping sound against his side of the canoe. Another boom reverberated the canoe’s sides. It sounded like it was getting worse.

“Sonic –”

“Why should I?” he burst out angrily, looking up at his human. Light suddenly flickered inside the canoe, accompanied by more booms and scrapes from the outside. As he looked around wildly, he noticed Tom looking at him with concern. He looked down and gasped. His arms were starting to glow, and even though with twisting he couldn’t see his back, he knew it was probably starting to glow as well. That was stupid. Why glow _now_ , of all times? Eggman wasn’t around. The world wasn’t at stake because of a bad guy. It was just his world being at stake due to chance and nature being stupid. EVERYTHING was being _stupid_ now!

“Because if you don’t talk to me now, you’ll keep it all locked up inside until something eats away at you.” Tom had not moved his hands from where they held onto his gloves. He tightened his hold only slightly, but the pressure centered Sonic. “Besides, if you continue to glow, you’ll start to shoot electricity, and I don’t know if you know but electricity and water don’t mix.” The smile on the sheriff’s face belied his words and his serious tone, but it told Sonic what he needed to know. _Tom’s not mad at me. He said everything’s going to be okay, and it’s going to be okay. As long as I remember that, I’ll be okay too_.

He trembled as he tried to will the light to go away. It flickered and dimmed, but the glow didn’t go away entirely. He could see better inside the canoe, though, which was helping to improve his mood. “Feel better, kid?” He nodded, and then he rested his head on top of their hands, the end of his muzzle almost hanging over the other end of the seat. He didn’t look up, but he didn’t need to. Tom gently disengaged one of his own hands out from underneath Sonic’s chin to start stroking his quills. “You can talk to me, son.” Shuddering with the comforting contact, and definitely not due to the cold water that lapped at his back, he tried to speak.

“I thought before that the pool incident was scary. But this is bringing that whole experience back and upgrading it to terrifying. The worst part about that day wasn’t the drowning. It was the darkness, that never-ending, gaping jaw of darkness that was trying to drag me down. I can’t see, I can’t breathe, and worst of all, I can’t run. And it’s all happening again. What’s the point of having powers if I can’t _use them with stupid WATER_?!” He felt his eyes begin to moisten, and blinked rapidly to keep the tears contained.

“It’s only natural, kid,” Tom tried to console him as he continued to stroke his head. “You almost drowned once, and that was completely on accident. Now we’re both hurtling downstream in an upside down canoe not knowing where we’re going to end up. This is scary.”

“It’s more than that,” Sonic gulped, steadying his voice. “When – when we were going up against Eggman, I never had any worries. Even when I was lying on the pavement in Green Hills, I never felt this, this fear that I couldn’t use my powers, or that I wouldn’t be able to. Yeah, I know I was exhausted and hit, but I still had the sense that I, my powers were there, intact, whatever.” He let out a groan of frustration. “Here? In the water? My feet can’t find bottom, I have to hang onto a canoe to stay afloat, and my emotions are going so crazy where I can’t control my powers again. I’m so _USELESS_!” he spat.

“Sonic, look at me. Look at me.” Tom’s voice was steady, somewhere between stern and concerned. Sonic allowed Tom’s hand to guide his chin upwards, hoping Tom wouldn’t see the emotions he was trying to keep contained. As he locked eyes again with his human, however, he felt everything he was feeling be revealed. He also felt his world steady again. “ _Never_ say you are useless. Ever. Just because you can’t use your powers like you normally can doesn’t mean you’re useless. Yeah, there’s water everywhere, and you can’t run us out of here. So what? I said we’d get out of here, and I mean that. We’ll probably have to think of something clever to make it happen, but I promised that it would happen, and it _will_ happen.” Tom’s voice never wavered throughout his entire statement. As much as Sonic envied his dad’s calm, he was grateful for it.

“Okay.” He didn’t have to glance down at his arms to know that the light’s glow had dimmed a little bit more, which was perfectly fine with him. Darkness wasn’t fine with him, but that was preferred to electrical shocks.

“Trust me.” He felt his chin be released, but he didn’t feel like burying his head again. Everything was going to be okay, since Tom knew pretty much everything, and if his dad was confident they’d be okay, then so could he.

“I do. I just don’t trust myself.” _Especially since my powers are no good here, and it’s my fault that we’re here_.

“That’s okay, son. _I_ trust you.”

“Even if you think I’d electrocute us both?” Ooh. He _had_ meant that to be a joke. Maybe his dad did get it – he looked like he was smirking.

“You know –” As soon as Tom opened his mouth, multiple things screeched against the side and over the top of the canoe, shoving the two occupants inside the canoe to one side. “Oh come on!” Tom yelled as Sonic winced. “I swear that if we get another bonding moment interrupted, I’m going to request a refund!”

“Uh, can you?” Sonic asked with a smile. “I thought you paid the park, not the lake.”

“Ha-ha,” Tom replied, his own lips turning upwards. Suddenly, the screeching noises doubled, getting louder as the thumping against the canoe increased. Sonic continued looking around, careful to be on the lookout for any leaks. A wave of water washed up and over his shoulders, eliciting a yelp. Ducking his head as he shook it to clear his eyes, he saw something.

“Dad, the seat is sinking in the water!” Water lapped over his gloves and across his arms, increasing his shivering and growing his internal panic. He looked back to see if another wave was coming. The water was getting choppier, but no more waves right now. He heard a grunt, felt his hands get squeezed ( _hard – ow_ ), and immediately turned to look back across at his human. Tom had his eyes closed, and he was breathing hard. “You okay?” Tom didn’t answer right away. “Dad!” he shouted with alarm.

“I’m… fine. My legs just… brushed up against some debris,” the sheriff said finally, opening his eyes. His voice sounded funny and he was pausing a lot, both things that Sonic had last heard used inside the hospital room. He refused to dwell on it. “Okay, Sonic, listen up. Forget what I said earlier. We’ve got to move outside the canoe.”

“Why? What’s happening?” Sonic asked, fully panicked. Between getting knocked around by debris _inside the canoe_ and getting knocked around by debris _in person_ , he’d take the former. 

“We’re hitting a bend where the lake feeds into the river. That water and debris have to go somewhere, but they won’t have as much room as the lake. Everything is going to fight for space as it goes downstream, piling up or spilling out, and that includes us. That’s why we’re getting hit by more debris and sitting lower in the water. It’s starting right now, and if we don’t get out now we’ll be trapped inside here.” Sonic felt his eyes widen. His very grip shuddered on the seat as the implications settled within.

“You’re _crazy_!” he shouted. “Go out _there_?!” The canoe shuddered as it took another hit, as if to prove his point.

“Yes.” Tom let go of Sonic’s hands one at a time as he turned to his right, taking the side of canoe with his hands palm up. “Grab this edge of the canoe exactly like this, palms up, Sonic.” It was the side of the canoe to the left of the hedgehog, who took one look at it before focusing back on his human.

“I – I – I don’t want to let go of the seat, Dad,” Sonic’s teeth chattered with the admission. Swinging the canoe up and over he was okay with, but couldn’t he hang onto the seat instead? “What if I drown?”

“You won’t drown! Kick your feet like you’re treading water as you hang on to the edge. Remember what I taught you?”

“Well, yeah, but –” Again the canoe shuddered, accompanied by a smaller one from the hedgehog, although for different reasons. He saw his dad’s head get doused with a wave, which only increased his terror. “Dad! I don’t think it’s any better out there! Can’t we please stay inside the canoe?” he pleaded.

“No, Sonic!” His dad responded as he spit out water. “Listen, I need your help. The canoe is too long for me to try to swing it up and over by myself. We do this quick, and we won’t be in the water for long, but we have to do it NOW. It’s either getting buried by the debris or sitting on top of it.” Sonic still clutched onto the seat for dear life. He saw Tom’s eyes try to lock onto his, but he ducked his head and closed his eyes. Anything was better to him than seeing Tom’s disappointment. Feeling a set of fingers enclose his left hand, he reluctantly opened his eyes. Tom was smiling at him, a far cry from what he thought was going to be disappointment. “Do you trust me, Sonic?”

“I do!” he protested. “I just don’t trust the water.”

“I know. I don’t either, which is why we need to do this now and quickly. I know it’s scary out, and I know you’re terrified. Trust ME, son. I won’t let you drown. I’ll grab you once the canoe is right side up and put you in first, okay?” Despite his terror, Sonic reluctantly nodded. He would trust his dad. “Okay, now one hand at a time, reach over and grab the edge of the boat. Ready?” Sonic nodded and the hold on his hand tightened. “Okay, left first, let go and grab onto the edge… NOW!” Tom released his grip as Sonic’s left hand reached out and grabbed onto the boat edge. “Good job, Sonic! Now the right hand!” If it wasn’t for Tom’s persistence, his hand wouldn’t have moved at all. But the right joined the left, and now he was hanging onto the edge of the canoe for dear life.

“Good job, Sonic!” Hearing the praise, the hedgehog looked back over to where his dad was swimming, and he too started to tread water. That’s when another swell of water exploded over the back of his head.

“D-dad! Hurry up!” he coughed, blinking the water out of his eyes. Couldn’t he get a break here? They weren’t even back outside the canoe yet.

“Okay. On the count of three, Sonic, we’re going to push the canoe up and over behind us. Get ready to give the biggest push you can. Ready?” Sonic nodded. “One, two, three, UP!” Between the combined shoves of an adult male and a young hedgehog, the canoe slogged up and over, scraping against resistance. As soon as Sonic let go, he started to kick his legs faster out of desperation, his hands completely empty of anything to hang on to. “I got you! Up and in!” Sonic felt himself get picked up and dumped over inside the canoe. Feeling grateful that his feet finally felt bottom, he looked over where they had shoved the canoe up against. Tree trunks formed an almost solid wall against that side of the canoe; it was a miracle that they had gotten the canoe upright at all. He turned back around to see Tom clutching onto the side of the canoe. He thought it weird that his human hadn’t gotten into the canoe yet.

“T-t-thank you, D-d-donut D-dad.” He smiled even as he shivered. The rain had only lightened, not gone away, and he was getting reintroduced to nature’s shower. Getting wet all over again wasn’t fun, but he would take the rain over waves any day.

“Anytime, son.” His dad smiled back at him. “You did a good job. I’m proud of you.” Tom still didn’t appear to be trying to get into the canoe, which bothered Sonic. Maybe he was content to just hang off the side. With all the debris surrounding them and still enclosing in, he had an uneasy feeling that that wasn’t it.

“Um, Dad? Aren’t you going to get into the canoe?”

“In a moment, Sonic. I’m going to… catch my breath right now.” Yeah, Tom was acting weird right now. Well, he had landed in the middle of the canoe when Tom threw him in, and Tom was hanging onto the middle section of the side of the canoe as well. Getting him inside the canoe shouldn’t be too difficult.

“I’ll help you get in.” The debris was gathering up and beginning to pile around them both. There was so much of it! Tree branches, tree trunks, and what looked like half of a building lay partially submerged all around him, being propelled by the roiling waters. He didn’t know where he was, so he couldn’t tell where they had come from. But by looking to the front of the canoe, he could see trees and shoreline, and debris and water covering it before he could even blink. He thought _he_ was fast. Tom had been right. But why wasn’t he getting in?

“No, no, Sonic, you… you don’t have to. I’ll get in, just give me a moment.” He wouldn’t ask. No, he wouldn’t. If he did, something worse was going to happen, and given their odds right now, he wasn’t going to jinx either one of them.

“No, I’m helping you get in NOW!” He tugged at his dad’s arm, intent on getting him into the canoe. That was when something hit the canoe from the back, throwing Sonic towards the side of the canoe. He let go of his human’s arm in the moment, bouncing off the side to land on his butt. Shaking his head, he heard something slide down the opposite side of the canoe with a metallic grating noise, and he gritted his teeth. He wouldn’t look behind him. He wouldn’t look at it. Standing up, he grasped Tom’s arm again just as the noise stopped and the canoe and the hedgehog and the human altogether began to turn counterclockwise.

Into the path of an oncoming tree trunk. Sonic froze, fixating on the piece of debris as it came towards them. The trunk dwarfed everything else around it. _It’s so BIG_.

“Get DOWN, Sonic!” Hands pushed him down into the canoe before the pressure disappeared. Sonic immediately popped his head up to see Tom clutching the side of the canoe with both arms for dear life just as the tree trunk swung right into the same side of the canoe. A crunching noise indicated the trunk had struck home, and Tom’s face wrinkled as a long, drawn out groan was dragged out between his clenched teeth.

“DAD!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to be hit harder emotionally, listen to "Stampede" posted by DisneyWorldMusic on YouTube while you go back and read this. It's the best part of the soundtrack from the movie "The Lion King" (1994).


	6. Chapter 6

“DAD!” God, that was _gut wrenching_. That was going to be added to the list of things to never do again, right up there with being pinned in the water by a tree. Speaking of a tree, the trunk wasn’t moving at the moment, and Tom wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Sure he was breathing, but even if _he_ hadn’t screamed he was still groaning – from pain or pressure he wasn’t sure. That tree was taking _something_ out on him.

“DAD!” His son sounded panicked. He’d respond, except that tree-made crunch had decided he didn’t need at least two of his ribs (probably more, but the pressure made it hard to tell). It hurt to breathe. His leg hurt from getting swiped by the other debris from before, a bone-deep ache that only grew as he attempted to tread water. It seemed that everything _hurt_. Of all the camping trips to get injured on, it couldn’t have been ANY OF THE PREVIOUS ONES INSTEAD?

No? _Of course not. It waits for the first vacation I take with my son. Leg bust, ribs toast, what’s next_? That was when the tree decided to break away from the canoe, and Tom suddenly fell backwards, stunned by the sudden movement. _Should’ve known better_. White gloved hands covered his own almost immediately, keeping his hands tethered to the metal side.

“Dad! I got you!” Tom wouldn’t argue. He certainly couldn’t be picky now. He tightened his hands’ grip, nodding at the determined face of his son who was refusing to let him go, and using every ounce of upper body strength he had he pulled himself back. As he clung back onto the canoe, opening his mouth to say thanks, a wave surprised him. Probably backwashed from the fleeing log, it was high enough to go over his head and temporarily blind him with a sheet of water. He inhaled some of it despite his best efforts, sending him into a coughing fit.

“DAD!” With the way Sonic was yelling, he couldn’t even tell whether or not the water had hit him as well. That was fine. His son sounded fine, and that released one worry from the sheriff’s mind.

“I-I’m okay,” **cough** , “Sonic,” he gasped out, wiping his eyes one-handed and trying to shake the remaining water away. He coughed after that sentence too. Wiping his mouth with one hand – the other was keeping him tethered to the canoe – he squinted at the remaining residue. Yeah, he definitely had more than two ribs broken. He slowed his breathing and shortened his breaths just enough to cause the least amount of pain but still be able to function.

“Let me help get you in!” Sonic was pulling frantically at his arms. Tom tried to protest, as in he opened his mouth to say something to keep the kid safe inside the canoe – and instead of words a groan escaped. He internally aimed a glare at the culprit – his insides. “Dad, please!”

“Okay, Sonic,” he murmured at last. “Be careful.” He took a closer look at the kid while catching his breath. Sonic’s quills were still glowing, but it didn’t seem to be growing like it had when they were inside the canoe. If he wasn’t getting shocked now with his son’s hands currently being wrapped around his arm at the moment, he’d probably survive being helped into the canoe. Besides, his son was right. It was getting too risky to stay outside the canoe. He had hoped that he could check on his leg discreetly without worrying about the kid seeing, but that wasn’t going to happen. Setting his teeth against the pain, he rocked up and forward as Sonic continued pulling on his arms, spilling headfirst into the canoe. It rocked back and forth, scraping against the debris on either side, but it held together and remained upright.

Rolling onto his back, Tom braced both hands on the bottom of the canoe, bringing himself into a sitting position. Barely glancing behind, he let his torso lean back until it brushed up against the seat, the metal bracing both his shoulders across his back. He noticed Sonic had moved to kneel on the seat in front of him, eyes widening as the glow he carried seemed to grow brighter. He hadn’t wanted his son to see him like this, but there was no point now. Besides, it was his own fault they were stuck in this predicament.

He should have stopped Sonic from getting the canoe. He should have insisted that Sonic head back to the truck. When the water crashed into them, flipping them upside down, he should have grabbed Sonic sooner. He also should have remembered where they had camped – the southeast end of Holter Lake fed into a winding river that snaked up and down, with sharp bends and narrow spots before it ended into Upper Holter Lake (he didn’t name them, he just fished them). Normally that wasn’t a concern, but when you were helplessly swept up into a roiling mass of water and debris, hurtling into the rainy darkness? That would damage anyone’s confidence, let alone Sonic. The poor kid had enough bad memories regarding water. He should have never let it come to this. This whole mess was his fault, not Sonic’s.

Pain wracked the sheriff as the adrenaline wore off. He wished he had the medical kit he had back in the truck. He worked to match pain to parts of the body; once compartmentalized, he would be better able to mentally block the pain. Back? Stiff, but in one piece. Ribs? OUCH – his middle wasn’t supposed to feel like a game of pick up sticks. No twisting at the waist. Leg? … Huh. He wasn’t sure if he could call that better or worse than what he had hoped for.

“Uh, Dad?” he heard Sonic asked. He looked up. His poor kid looked pale as he pointed a gloved finger downwards. “W-w-what is that?”

“Oh?” He asked mildly. “That? That would be what had brushed up against my leg earlier.” He adjusted himself so the back of his shoulders and upper back rested against the metal seat behind him, taking great care to straighten both legs. Well, only the left one could straighten out. Given the angle the wood piece had embedded itself in his right leg, and the distance between him and the next metal seat, he wouldn’t be able to stretch it out all the way. Not that he wanted to.

“That looks bad!” That would be the wood piece, splintered at both ends like driftwood and skewering his leg at a canted angle. It almost looked glossy and it felt too smooth to have been ripped from a tree – what could it have been torn from? A house? Cabin? Outhouse? He probed the entrance/exit wounds gingerly, noticing a small trail of blood from the back. It didn’t look like it was going to slide one direction or another without help, and he wouldn’t encourage it. He then probed the rest of the leg. He stifled a shudder as he realized how close the bone in his leg was to one end of the stick, thankfully the bone itself feeling intact near as he could tell.

“It’s not that bad,” Tom responded, muffling a grunt as he shifted his right leg so bent at a thirty-degree angle it would rest against the inside of the canoe. The pain flared slightly, but it was dulling before it could get too uncomfortable. Too uncomfortable compared to broken ribs? He’d let the two duke it out to figure out which was going to be more painful – he had more important things to worry about at the moment, like living. Pain compartmentalized.

“You said it brushed up _against_ your leg,” Sonic stressed.

“Yeah.” _You couldn’t sound any more_ careless? He chastised himself, angry at his lack of control over his tone of voice. The last thing he needed was to make the poor kid worry again.

“But it’s _through_ your leg!” Two green eyes were narrowing at him, and the sheriff could see all the emotions from before coalescing with this one. He’d dealt with Sonic being angry before. He would take angry Sonic over fearful Sonic any day.

“True,” Tom conceded calmly. He continued to keep his eyes on the kid’s, even as the canoe shuddered once more. Thankfully, the canoe wasn’t leaking yet.

“You said you were _fine_!” The kid sounded angrier now. Good. All Tom needed to do now was redirect the focus of all of the kid’s emotional outbursts.

“I did say that.” He kept his face relaxed and his tone even.

“But you’re NOT fine!” The hedgehog howled in frustration. The dull glow inside his spikes flamed bright blue for an instant. “You’re hurt! You’re not supposed to get _hurt_!” Neither was Sonic, but it was just like the kid to not focus on himself.

“No, son, I’m not.” He prodded the area again gently, verifying that the stick had decided it’s new career was to be a skewer. “But I’m breathing, and my heart’s still beating. You kept me from letting go, and you got me into the canoe. I’ll be fine.” He saw the kid’s face morph from anger back to worry, and his own worry increased before he fought it back under control. He had experience dealing with crappy situations, even if this one was topping the list. He just had to get the kid to focus. That last part was supposed to lift Sonic’s spirits, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. He’d have to think of something else.

“This is bad! This is really bad!” Sonic moaned. His spikes continued to glow, and a flash of blue lightning sizzled across his back. The dark sky and rain only accentuated its color. _Can’t let him touch the water_ was Tom’s immediate thought.

“Kid, focus,” he said brusquely. “We’re nearing the first bend in a river with at least five more to go. Get down from the seat and join me here in the middle.”

“Seriously? You want me to come down there?! You’re hurt! I’ll only hurt you more!” Sonic exclaimed, shrinking back from the human. Tom wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be endearing or heartbreaking. It wasn’t like his insides could get more of a beating.

“And I’m going to be hurt for a while. However, we’re going from a huge lake swollen with water and debris to a tiny river with the same amount of water and debris. Look around; even with the rain you can see everything is starting to pile up around us and spill out towards the shorelines!” Twisting as much as he could before the pain could build up to excruciating, he gestured ahead at the madness that they were surrounded by. He didn’t look long, but he didn’t have to. Everything _was_ building up fast, and they were getting closer to the first bend than Tom expected. He turned back around quickly, coughing to mask his grunts of pain. “And of course we’re getting really close to that first bend.” He heard a whimper, and that settled it.

“Centering our mass in the canoe is going to be the best way to ensure we don’t get tipped over,” he commanded, using his ‘sheriff voice’. “Come down here.” Sonic still looked nervous but he hopped down so he was standing on Tom’s left. He felt the young hedgehog shake, and he wished he had more time to do something beyond clasping the boy on the shoulder, quickly murmuring, “Good job, son.” Hopefully his words from before would reach him. He reached inside towards one of the paddles, detached it, and handed it to Sonic. He did the same with the other paddle, although this one he kept, grasping it with the handle centered in one palm and placing the other palm halfway down the metal shaft.

“We’re going to stop the debris from getting in our way. Use these paddles to shove at the debris so it stays away from the front of the canoe. Use the edge of the paddle against the middle of whatever it is and force it back from the canoe. If it comes back, shove at it again. The water will take care of the rest.”

“You sure about that?” Sonic asked, adjusting his grip on the paddle to mirror as he was seeing Tom holding it. “Some of that debris is _huge_!” He sounded less worried than he had before, and that gave Tom hope. Maybe his little ‘atta boy’ helped. Well, if all else failed, he had heard electrical shocks could be therapeutic. Maybe they’d work on broken ribs?

“I’m positive.” _No, I’m not_ , is what he wanted to say, but being the sheriff, son of the previous sheriff, it _was_ his responsibility to provide hope, even against all odds. So what if he was currently failing his responsibility to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves? His son was still alive and unharmed. He’d take moderate success over complete failure. “You’re a lefty, so you pick first which side of the canoe you’ll protect.” Sonic looked from side to side so fast it almost made Tom lightheaded (that could also be blamed on shallow breathing), but he finally settled on staying on Tom’s left side, standing so he could see over the side. Tom aimed his paddle outside the canoe on his right side.

“Get ready, Sonic. I trust you,” he added on a hunch.

“Whatever you say, Donut Dad!” he heard Sonic say back to him, sounding more cheerful than he had been starting this whole nightmare ride. Good. It worked. It also appeared he had a new nickname. No time to think about it now, with the debris beginning to close in.

“Again, aim the edge of the paddle towards the debris.” Tom shifted so he faced the right, still remaining seated to keep his weight inside the canoe – and maybe because his ribs were punishing him. “As long as you have that edge aimed out and towards the center mass, you can catch it, get enough of a grip and push back.”

“Wha – Dad! I’m not going deaf – I heard you the first time!” He heard Sonic laugh, a welcome sound. “Just try to keep up!” A smile of his own grew.

“You’re on!” Downed tree trunks were surrounding them, starting to pile up on each other as they fought for space in the crowded water. The first piece he had to deal with was a tree trunk, not as big as the one that had graced him with broken ribs. Sizing it up, he attacked what he thought was the middle and caught it. Grunting with the pressure, he pushed back at it, and with a creak and a groan it floated away. Stars floated in his vision, but he shook them away, keeping his breathing even. Just because that one trunk was floating away didn’t mean that it couldn’t come back – with friends.

The next one decided to skate along right after he had pushed away the first. He hit it with the paddle, as close to its center of mass, and heaved it towards the opposite direction. Only for it to get bumped by another log and push back against his paddle. Good thing he wasn’t standing. As it was, his ribs groaned in protest. Or maybe that was his mouth. Arms straining under the increased pressure, he sat his ground and kept his hands firm on the paddle, forcing both logs to choose the path of least resistance. He saw an approaching log, but instead of continuing its course to his side it changed to ram the end of the canoe. The canoe jerked to the right, and he felt Sonic crash into his very tender side, quill-end first. No electrical shocks followed thankfully. He failed to swallow back a groan.

“Omigod! Sorry, Dad!” He heard his son apologize.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, keeping his eyes fixed on the right side. “Get back up and watch your side. That log turned us around.” It had done more than that. Tom and Sonic had originally been facing the direction that had been sending them the debris. With that log ramming the end of the canoe, it had unintentionally sent them spinning to face the shoreline of the very first curve – or what was visible of it. Logs, trunks, parts of what looked to be from multiple buildings, and muddy lake water had covered most of it by now up to the dense forest that alternated with sheer rock walls whose heights would constantly change down the whole river to the next lake. If they were lucky, they’d get to land before that happened. The occasional rock was getting churned up, the rest remaining unseen beneath the surface until the force of the water naturally decided it was their turn to go.

Initially, Tom had thought about making a mad dash towards that bend just to get their feet on dry land, but he knew it was stupid even before this happened. Water was unpredictable at the best of times, and flash floods made it ten times worse. With what he had seen of the crap coming their way, the debris the water carried would accompany them onto the shoreline and past it easily, and he’d rather not have to worry about dodging trees on top of shoving away tree trunks. On top of that, all it would take would be one more swipe like before from debris and they’d just as easily smash into rock as they would into forest. Smashing into something hard and unforgivable was not appealing, and he could now say that from _personal_ experience.

“Keep the paddles out! Continue attacking the debris! We may be heading closer towards the curve, but we make it past that and we’ll get ahead of this mess.” Tom grunted as his paddle made contact with yet another log, pushing it away only for it to be bumped back towards him. His paddle landed again in the center, this time with double the force behind it. He strained with the effort, redirecting both trunks to slide on by only for more downed trees to brush by. He’d have to yell at Brad for slacking on his forest service duties if the flash flood was doing a better job than he at clearing out all this crap.

Looking again toward the end of the canoe, he saw it was canted towards the right just slightly. Relief welled up within. Even with both of them pushing away monstrous mounds of waterlogged forest trash, he was out-paddling his son where they were hugging enough of an angle to keep them away from shore. His strength and determination renewed, the sheriff attacked any unfortunate log nearby, giving himself enough of a gap to row once between attacks. He couldn’t row continuously, but the pattern of attack debris-row-attack debris-row meant that he was consciously keeping the canoe riding towards the inside of the curve, away from the mess that had once been the shoreline. Breaths deepened as he rowed, muscle memory overriding his caution. Pain welled up again only to get swamped by adrenaline. For now, he refused to suffer the consequences of his bad decisions.

He felt his progress go agonizingly slow, watching the canoe rebelliously change course between every attack and every paddle. But the nose kept inching to the right, and then he was no longer looking at the inside of the first curve but at the cliff face on its other side. He breathed in deeply – and regretted it again. Stars lit his vision with a vengeance, and pain assaulted his mind. Making his breathing shallow again, he cleared his line of sight. Yes, they had indeed made it past the first curve. Looking to the right, he saw the canoe pass by a rocky outcropping with barely an inch to spare. He shuddered as he dipped the paddle again, thankful that his lapse in attention hadn’t brought on more disaster. The current still kept them moving even as the amount of debris in the water grew less, but that wouldn’t last for long. Checking on his son, he saw the hedgehog give as good as he got, easily keeping up with the debris that threatened his side.

“Sonic,” he said. “Look behind us. How much crap is coming our way?”

“Uh, how about ALL of it?” Tom saw Sonic grip the edge of the canoe, wide-eyed and ears upright. Ignoring the protest from his middle, he turned to look behind as well. He wished the rain was a little bit heavier to cover the sight before his eyes. Nothing looked like it had changed much. The entire surface of the water appeared carpeted with logs, tree trunks, and dotted with parts of what looked like had been cabins. The only thing that made it look more intimidating was the way pieces of debris would lurch up and over each other, making them pile up as they fought for room to continue downstream. The curve was keeping the majority occupied, but it wouldn’t last long.

“Geez, Mother Nature is still pissed at us,” he drawled. “And we didn’t even litter.” The main mass of debris was still heading towards the first curve though, while he and Sonic were now past that point. But debris continued to pour out, and not all of it headed into the shoreline. Even now the shoreline appeared to be blocked enough by the first of the debris that it acted as the foundation for the rest of the debris to pile upon and continue their journey downstream, aided and abetted by the current. The same current that was speeding them onwards.

“What do we do now?” Sonic asked, still wide-eyed. Tom swallowed even as he patted the kid’s head.

“Do what you did before to shove the debris away, except now you get both sides. I’ll see what I can do to keep us ahead of the crap back there.” He turned back around and set the paddle against the corner where the seat met the side of the canoe. Stifling another groan, Tom removed his hands from the bottom of the canoe and placed them, palms down and fingers grasping the edge, on either side of the metal seat against his back. Bracing himself with his left leg, the human lifted himself up and onto the seat, letting out an agonized groan as he eased himself backwards and down. He dug his left foot into the bottom of the canoe for balance as his right leg remained at a stiff angle. Ignoring the looks his son was sending him, he took up his paddle and dug it into the water. Good thing his shoulders remained unharmed. He focused on each stroke as his paddle dipped again and again into the water, willing his adrenaline to override the pain. He had to use the current now before the rest of the debris decided to catch up.

*******

Shoving another log away, Sonic inhaled sharply before glancing right and left, taking in all sides of the canoe. Debris continued to follow them at the same pace, although the quantity was much diminished. He looked backwards. The bend in the river still looked to be choked with the majority of the debris, but the water still flowed fast. Even as the current was helping them get further downstream, so too was it sending downed trees and parts of buildings past the temporary blockage. It would only be a matter of time until the rest came downstream as well. Otherwise, he could just sit back and let Donut Lord do his thing.

 _No, I can’t_. Guilt accompanied that single thought as he stole a look towards Tom. His human was rowing consistently, each stroke strong and steady as he dipped the paddle into the water again and again. It was almost like he had never been injured. Sonic knew better. _It’s my fault he’s hurt. But if my dad can continue fighting, so can I_. He turned back around and continued his defense of the canoe, hammering back against the debris that threatened them. His focused aggression against the vacation wreckers kept his simmering emotions in check, even if he couldn’t stop random thoughts from crossing his mind, all with the same theme:

 _What good are my powers if I can’t make up for my mistakes_?

*******

Rain continued to fall as hedgehog and human alike battled to stay ahead of nature’s wrath. One took advantage of the current to try to stay ahead of the oncoming death trap, the other guarding against the current dangers of the water. Sounds of shifting debris reached two sets of ears, though, and despite their best efforts they knew what was coming.

Time was running out.


	7. Chapter 7

“Hey, Dad.”

“Yeah, bud?”

“Uh, do you have your phone on you?” Tom paddled as he weighed the question, wondering how to answer the strange request.

“Why?” he asked, suspicious of the answer. He didn’t look at Sonic, choosing instead to focus on using his paddle to follow the path of the current. If he looked at the kid, either the kid would immediately give up the reason, or he’d see that Sonic was messing with him. The former was infinitely more likely. And he needed to concentrate.

“I need to take some pictures.”

“Why would you _want_ to take pictures, Sonic?” Tom asked, barely believing his ears. “We’re not even out of this mess yet.” He chose to look at the hedgehog now, noticing that Sonic was paying him more attention than he was the water. Debris still flowed around them, hazards to them making it past them or being driven ashore in one piece, but the kid was fixated on a completely inane question. He wasn’t sure if that was a change for the better or for the worse.

“So people would believe me when I say water is scary! After going through this catastrophe, I think I deserve to get a lifetime pass on anything water-related.” Sonic said, face and voice sounding one hundred percent serious. Tom sputtered out a laugh and immediately winced. He had to be more careful to not breathe too deeply again, and he had to keep up with rowing.

“Well, that’s not a bad idea, kid. But it’s not getting you out of swimming lessons.”

“You don’t have your phone on you, do you?” Sonic’s question left very little room for doubt, completely ignoring Tom’s quip.

“Nope. Left it in the truck,” Tom panted as he completed another stroke with his paddle. He looked around, again torn with his impending decision. Which shore to take – left or right?

“WHY?” Sonic exclaimed. “I need to record this! For my safety! For peace of mind! For posterity!” Despite himself, Tom paused mid-paddle and looked back to again meet the gaze of an exasperated hedgehog – all over not being able to access a setting on his absent phone while they both drifted in the middle of a flash flood. When they got out of this, he’d have to sit Sonic down to address the topic of ‘priorities’.

“I didn’t think to take it out with all the rain falling. It was – _is_ – safer in the truck!” Tom defended, lowering his paddle back into the water and found the current once more. “Besides, if it was on me now, it would have been drowned and battered and therefore useless.”

“COME ON! Whatever will I do when people ask me, ‘So how was your summer, Sonic?’” Rolling his eyes dramatically, Sonic threw his arms out to punctuate the question as he turned to face his human, barely missing hitting him with the paddle. “Just ask them to take my word on it?! Like they’d ever believe me.” Tom paused, paddle in the water, closed his eyes and restrained himself from shouting. Shouting would hurt his ribs too much. Well, if nothing else, he was glad his kid’s attitude was staying positive.

“You seem pretty trustworthy,” Tom grunted as he brought the paddle out of the water and back up again. “Even when you’re taking inches off my life by waving that paddle around.”

“Cheer up, Dad,” Sonic said. “I didn’t hit you.”

“Yet. Get that thing back in the water.”

“But the debris is so far behind us now.” The canoe shook, causing both hedgehog and human to jolt to one side. “Whoa!” Sonic threw out both arms for balance, causing Tom to duck again as the paddle flew over his head. “Okay, so it’s back to sneaking up on us.”

“It never stopped, Sonic!” Tom yelled in exasperation. He kept his paddle in the water, taking brief comfort in stopping even though he knew it wouldn’t last. He had to continue to take advantage of the current if they were to stay ahead of the main collection of debris, which had obviously taken advantage of his lapse in concentration.

“Whatever!” his kid scoffed, catching and pushing back the offending log. “I got it!”

“That’s what you say now!” An ear-splitting crash hit both of their ears at the exact same time, cutting off any further banter.

“You hear that?” Sonic’s head swiveled fast to look backwards, and Tom looked back as well. Sure enough, the debris they had fought off back at the curve was catching up to them, riding practically on their heels. That crash had been the collision of a tree trunk and what remained of the front wall of a cabin. The trunk was the clear victor – the wall collapsed in on itself and further into the water. It refused to stay fully submerged however, even as that trunk and more just like it continued their path by slogging up and over.

“Shit!” Tom cursed from desperation. “I didn’t get us that far ahead after all.” He turned back around and readied his paddle.

“It’s still coming, Tom!” Sonic warned, worry leaking from his voice. At a glance, Tom saw he was still looking backwards, paddle tightly gripped between white gloves.

“Yeah, what else is new?” The sheriff gritted his teeth as he continued to paddle. His shoulders burned with the workout he was getting, and his chest hurt from the broke ribs being jostled between breathing and moving. His adrenaline was beginning to ebb, a sure sign that the pain he was feeling now would at the least triple once allowed to flourish. He had to get them out of this river and to a safer place, but which bank and how?

Tom paused as he brought the paddle up and out of the water, looking to the left and right for ideas – and immediately wished he hadn’t. Pain shot through his entire midsection and up his spine, stiffening his entire form and forcing a gasp out of him that he tried to keep quiet. Unfortunately, there was a certain hedgehog who happened to have poor concentration but amazing hearing and was now giving him an intense look. “I’m fine.” He dipped his paddle back into the water to resume paddling.

“No, you’re not.”

“Okay, I’m not fine now, but I will be soon.” _Hopefully_. With the newfound pain came back the adrenaline, but it wouldn’t last as long. Whether he liked it or not, pain would become the driving factor in choosing which area to pick. “Watch the sides for debris.”

“Don’t lie to me!” His vision was filled with a very blue, very angry-looking hedgehog. “How bad is it?” Tom paused in paddling again, mostly because Sonic was so close that he was afraid he’d hit the poor kid. He also questioned how much he should tell the kid, especially if it could scare him more. The glow didn’t appear to be leaving the kid’s quills anytime soon, but he didn’t seem like he was going to lose it and become a terrifying ball of electricity. The kid’s self-control was improving greatly. Plus, if he didn’t tell Sonic now, the kid would think he was lying to him, and that was a line he hoped he’d never have to cross. Truth won out over caution.

“At least a couple broken ribs, one of which pierced my lung.” Probably more than once, as it was getting harder to breathe even shallowly. “My back hurts, my right leg aches like crazy, and my shoulders burn from all this rowing.” His breathing hitched again; if he didn’t continue to concentrate, he would lose control over his breathing and start hacking all over again. “But I’m breathing, Sonic, and I have a plan to get us to shore so we can get out of this mess.” Question how good the plan was _only_ _after_ they got out of this alive.

“You’re not going to die, are you?” Anger melted into worry, and Tom’s worry hardened into resolve.

“No, of course not.” Tom scoffed, releasing the paddle with one hand to pat the hedgehog on the head. “All of these injuries? It’s nothing a stay in the hospital won’t fix.” The canoe shuddered again, and without thinking he grabbed onto Sonic and held onto him as both were jolted to the left. Sharp quills stabbed at his fingers and palm, but he ignored them. Looking around, Tom could see that the mass of mess was closing in fast – he’d have to row again. “Well, providing I can _make_ it to the hospital.”

“Please don’t leave me!” Sonic pleaded. Tom patted his head again before his hand joined the other to continue their rowing routine.

“I won’t, Sonic. I promise. I’ll keep rowing, and you keep looking out for debris that’s going to hit us. Look, I know where we are. See those?” he pointed to the right. Vacation homes were tucked in along the entire side of the river. Decked out in various sizes but all sharing the same elegance and beauty, they shared one other quality: empty. Boathouses were full, docks were empty, and windows were shuttered. It looked more like a ghost town than Tom cared to admit, but it was better than being full of frightened vacationers. Even though nature had decided to unleash all her wrath, Brad remained good at his job.

“What if we tried to go into one of those houses?” Sonic asked.

“Not a chance. Current’s too strong. We’d have to fight it, get inside, and hope we’d make it to the roof before the rest of the debris came along. Besides, they’ve probably been checked for people and evacuated and all power and water turned off. We wouldn’t be able to even notify anyone that we’re here.” Being surrounded by debris inside a half-destroyed building with no way to contact the outside world was like sitting in a canoe in the middle of a flash flood. He deserved every bit of blame that would be coming his way _once_ they survived this.

“But you said you had a plan.”

“I do. I’m going to continue to steer and row, and you’re going to continue to keep the debris away. See that bend winding to the left?” he pointed ahead. Bushes dotted a stony landscape to their left while the river rushed past only to wind around, disappearing from further view. Homes and trees and plant life were in abundance on their right, but that lay flat for at least a mile. The stony landmass to their left, while dotted with sparse vegetation, went from level into a steep embankment that only continued to climb higher. The height alone was what settled the argument for Tom. Going uphill with his busted ass wouldn’t be fun, but that would be less exertion than what would be required to outrun miles of rushing water and downed trees and housing structures, not to mention less dangerous for both Sonic and himself.

“I drive us left with the current, we’ll hit that rocky shoreline and begin running up that hill. You,” he pointed to Sonic, who nodded back at him, “will continue to keep debris away from the canoe. Between the two of us, as long as we do our jobs we’ll reach it in enough time to jump out and get up high enough before the rest of that debris pile catches up.”

“You’re sure?” Sonic looked doubtful. Inwardly Tom agreed with him, but outwardly he kept up his façade. Fake it ‘til you make it was a true enough statement for a lot of events, and being chased by a flash flood was no different.

“I’m sure. Like I said, we’ll make it out of this, Sonic. I promise.”

“Well, duh!” The hedgehog snorted and turned towards the right, paddle raised almost as a challenge to the encroaching debris. “That’s obvious, Donut Dad.”

“Right,” Tom jested back. “I’ll just pretend you never once doubted me.”

“Not even for a second!” Willing his reserves of adrenaline to hold out, Tom started paddling again, finding the current in one second and being whisked away again in another. He stayed steady for the most part, but Sonic stumbled, trying to keep his footing. Tom leaned forward, catching the hedgehog with his shoulder and keeping him upright enough as he regained his footing. Gloves flew across in the next second – Sonic seeing debris head towards them and racing to catch them before impact. Trusting his son to take care of it, Tom angled his paddle so instead of staying in line with the current, they would begin to angle off to their left.

Keeping that slight angle was crucial. Essentially changing lanes in the water, they had to move from the center of the river towards the outside left, all of which required a paddle (check), the correct angle (check), and timing (fingers crossed). The speed of the water itself could throw off the whole attempt if the current picked up momentum. The speed also mattered since the water was carrying all manner of debris – if Sonic missed and another log crashed into them, it would throw them off course. The sheer strength of a wall of water was not to be underestimated either; fighting water determined to stay its course meant that Tom essentially had to use his paddle as a rudder. Keeping a piece of plastic firm within a malleable yet deadly substance meant that he had to use all his upper body strength as well as his core – his already tired core from the rowing he had _been_ doing and damaged to boot. He had to. For his plan to work, there was no other choice. Angling the paddle continuously in order to cross the current fast enough to get to their destination meant being an immovable object against an unstoppable force. His ribs had something to say about that. So did his shoulders. His brain and parental instincts joined forces to overrule them both.

He adjusted the angle in increments, trying for a smooth lane change just as the driving instructors had hammered into him and the rest of the police cadets at the academy. What actually happened resembled a driver trying to dodge traffic on his way late into work. The front plunged forward before jerking to the left, the back reluctantly following after. Forward, jerk left, follow after. It was agonizingly slow work, made worse as the water itself seemed to protest his actions. His paddle jerked and jumped multiple times within the force of the current; in response, he aggressively increased the angle. The canoe jerked and groaned in response, but it changed course in a succession of jerks. A quick glance showed him Sonic gripping the edge of the boat with both hands, paddle lain across the seat.

“Uh, Donut Lord? I can’t block debris if I can’t stand upright.”

“Then hang on!” Tom hollered. “Get ready. We’re closing in to shore. When I say, jump, you jump, okay?”

“Okay, but –” A screaming metallic noise interrupted the blue boy mid-sentence. Blue, glowing quills were thrown one direction, and Tom felt himself get tossed another. Grabbing onto both sides of the canoe, paddle lying forgotten on the bottom, he realized his mistake.

When water levels rose, it was generally true that everything rose with it. Dams had more water pass underneath, boats rode higher, and formerly shallow spots could tolerate even the motorboats’ passage. Swimming spots would be easily flooded as well as boat landings. However, that wasn’t the only way to look at it. It wasn’t always about the _observable_ effects as the water level rose. How could it be, when the water rising had an equally important but _invisible_ impact?

Shorelines were generally notorious for boggy areas, brushy areas, and algae-fied, stagnant water. However, just like everything else the shoreline had its own layout, its own rises and falls just like any other landmass. The difference between it and the bottom of the lake was that you were used to not knowing the bottom of the lake. Tom knew that now – he realized too late that the shoreline only _looked_ shorter than it actually was. The metallic screeching was the canoe protesting being thrown mercilessly against the harsh rock. Looking down, he didn’t see any tears being opened up. Small miracles? He’d take every one. Sensing the equilibrium suddenly become unbalanced, the sheriff looked back up. The forward point of the canoe stopped – likely because of a divet or a boulder or something similar – and it began to tilt to the right. Tom’s heart almost stopped.

Hundreds of years of boating accidents had taught him that any boats, big or small, could fall to hidden sandbars, disguised shallows, and covered shorelines. Once caught, there’d be no escape – not without a fight and not without damage of some kind. Boats would either tilt over or be torn in two, but either way they’d sink. People would scramble over each other desperate for a way out as one by one they’d succumb to the water. Tom had two things going for him – his canoe was small and he wouldn’t give up. The third happened to be clinging for his own life to the canoe seat in all his spiky blue glory.

There was no time to say anything as the tilt became more pronounced. Maintaining his grip on either side, Tom shoved his entire body to the left. Gritting his teeth with the renewed pain in his middle, he refused to give up as the force increased. He thought he heard Sonic cry out, but he couldn’t focus on that now. Lifting himself up slightly as he continued to lean to the left, he planted his feet for stability. He pushed as he leaned – over and onto hard rock. He released both hands and pulled them under him, ignoring the bruising he was inflicting on his knuckles. Ducking his head quickly, he felt the canoe whisk past him as he heard a metallic clatter not even a second later, followed by a couple hollow echoes. The paddles apparently felt no need to stay with the canoe, not that he would do anything about that. Lifting his head quickly, he saw Sonic lying next to him, eyes closed tight. Seeing no indication of breath or life, he reached out and grabbed onto the kid. "Oh no no no," he muttered, then caught himself. His boy was warm, and he was groaning. _Alive_.

“SONIC! SONIC! WAKE UP!” he hollered.

“WHA-WHAT? WHAT?” The blue hedgehog lifted his head as he asked, before he curled up and began to cough.

“Oh good! You’re okay!” Tom said, relieved. He looked back out towards the river – and wished he hadn’t. “C’mon, Sonic. Get up!” he said, scrambling to his feet. His right leg remained achy, still impaled but untouched somehow. Wincing in pain, he stood – and then hunched over as his overworked core screamed at him. Tough. He didn’t have the option to sit down and whine if he wanted to continue breathing.

“I’m working on it, Dad!” Neither did Sonic.

“COME ON!” Grabbing both hands, Tom yanked Sonic up and onto his own feet, and keeping a hold of one took off running. “Start running!” he yelled. “We make it up this hill, Sonic, and we’ll be safe.”

“Yeah, yeah!” Sonic yelled back. “Less talking and more running!” Both panted hard as they attacked the incline with a vengeance, fueled with renewed adrenaline. Hearing debris crash and water roar in the background only added to their shared motivation.

 _I just hope I’m right_ , Tom thought as stars began to appear in his vision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish all the creators luck with the second Sonic movie. This is hard.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter posted! As for why it's late... that can wait until after you read this chapter. Enjoy!

Why was running harder than normal? Geez, what was knocking him off his game today?

Oh right – being dumped from a canoe onto a rocky shore with no warning whatsoever. That hadn’t felt like much initially, but the breath had been knocked out of him and he had been stunned for what felt like an eternity. Chalk it up to experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime adventure – trapped in the middle of a flash flood downriver. It would stay once-in-a-lifetime because he was NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN. EVER.

As he regained his breathing, running became easier. He picked up speed, ignoring the sounds of crashing water and debris behind. Looking down quick to only verify that he was still running on hard rock, he was satisfied they were staying ahead of the mess behind. Sure, it wasn’t easy. The rain was making the rocky surface slippery, and odd pools of water gathered within crevices both big and small. Still, it was a surface, and it was firm. He could run on this, not on water. He felt a jerk where his human was hanging onto his hand, and he looked up and back towards him.

Tom’s face was red with exertion as he was slowing down. He couldn’t slow down – they hadn’t made it all the way up the hill yet! Wait – it looked like his foot had been caught within one of the crevices. Tom was closing to losing his balance, despite his attempts to flail around with his other hand. His foot looked still caught within the crevice, while the other was slipping on the wet, steep rock. _If I don’t do something soon_ …

He turned around, plan fully formed in his mind. Keeping his grip firm on his dad’s, Sonic pulled him forward, ignoring a surprised yelp. Sonic sympathized with him. With the pace he was setting, he would outpace his dad faster than expected and aggravate his injuries. No problem. He glanced down at their clasped hands and using the tension he felt made sure to pace himself just so – fast enough to continue uphill but not so fast that he would exceed his dad’s stride. Feeling the pull on his shoulder and arm, he focused. It hurt, sure, but he had to help his dad keep up with him. Yeah, it was a burden being handsome and gifted and super-powered, but he could _finally_ put those powers to good use. Despite being chased by tons of water and unpredictable debris, he felt at peace for the first time since being literally swept off his feet.

Feet used to climbing up the hill found air for a moment instead of rock, causing a sliver of panic to appear before gravity helped feet find their purchase once more. Sonic kept them both moving past brush and bush until he came to a short tree. Halting underneath it, he heard his human wheeze as he himself turned around to face the oncoming water and debris. Spray flew up and into his face – but the water and assorted debris chose to climb no higher. They had made it up the hill with seconds to spare, no mean feat given their circumstances. Sonic heard his name being spoken and looked back towards the speaker.

“Yeah, Dad?”

“Go… go ahead,” Tom was saying, still panting. “We made it off and past the water. Keep following this rocky ridgeline. Watch out for any surprises, water or otherwise. It should be a straight shot for you so coming back shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll continue walking along, gathering my breath. Go see if you can find help.”

“Is that smart? You’re injured. You shouldn’t walk alone.” Tom wasn’t outright saying it, but that didn’t make Sonic feel any better. There was _no way_ he was abandoning his dad, not even if Tom said so.

“Yeah, but we need to know where we are. Think of it as a scouting mission.” Tom’s face was twisting into a smile, but his tone was still that of a sheriff. “By going ahead, I want you to find out if this is connected to more land. Is there anyone out there that you can find to get us out of here? Also, can we see our campsite from here? Maybe we can reach it, and I can get my phone back so I can call Brad or someone to come pick us up. Find out these things and report back. Get going!”

“10-4,” Sonic said, giving his dad the two-fingered salute with a wink. “Don’t worry! I’ll be back faster than you can blink.” _I’ll make sure of it_.

*******

He watched the hedgehog become a blue blur and then _bam_ – he was gone. He would continue walking, for no other reason than he had to keep himself awake and moving. He took a step forward – and winced.

Yeah, everything hurt now. Still. It had never stopped; it had just become more obvious, and his adrenaline refused to dull it any longer. Who did he tick off to get _this_ injured?

His core was screaming at him. His leg felt like it was half asleep, now with a throbbing pain shooting through every time he tried to put weight on it. His arm was sore, but he could ignore that. Sonic saving him from losing his balance going up the hill had been nothing short of incredible, as was his ability to remain upright. How his son had been able to pull it off, he had no idea, but he wouldn’t question miracles. Wincing with every step, he plodded across rock towards a lone tree coupled with boulders and sparse grass. That would help him brace himself, as well as give him a chance to rest briefly before walking again.

It was slow, steady, and painful, but he reached the tree and the gigantic rocks. He placed both hands against one boulder and cautiously pushed upwards, bracing his legs and what he could of his back. Pain was still present, but his muscles began to relax. Unfortunately, so did his ribs. He yelped as he felt his internal collection of jacks shift, catching what was probably a lung as his breathing hitched, and instinctively curled up against the boulder, maintaining his grip just so he wouldn’t crumple to a heap on the ground. He heard a familiar zip – his son was back. He turned to look only to chuckle at Sonic’s glower.

“Maybe you should continue to run on ahead,” he said with a smile. “I’ll be fine.”

“Right.” The kid didn’t sound convinced, and he crossed his arms. It only caused Tom’s smile to grow. His son was cute when he was cross.

“Totally.” He blinked, and then looked up. “Look, it’s not even raining anymore.” When it had stopped, he had no idea. He could hear the river still rush around them. When _that_ would stop, he had no idea. With the dam broken, the water levels would only climb higher. Plus, he could feel the air temperature begin to cool. While it would help in motivating him to continue moving, both he and his son were soaked to the bone. Hypothermia would set in, and he didn’t even want to think about the odds of bronchitis or pneumonia following suit. If Sonic hadn’t found anyone yet, that didn’t bode well for their odds of survival. Unfortunately, his son didn’t seem convinced by his suggestion.

“Dad, I’m not a donut.” Sonic rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms. The hedgehog was just _asking_ for dad jokes with the way he acted.

“Which means eating you is out of the question,” the sheriff sighed dramatically. “There goes my sugar rush.” He started to chuckle only for it to turn to coughing. His ribs and lungs were wimps.

“Stop it! Be serious,” the hedgehog chided, obviously upset.

“I am. I want you to continue to go on,” Tom said, fully serious. “You’ll find someone soon with your super speed. That’s what you need to focus on. No one is looking for either one of us at the moment, so _you_ need to be the one looking. I can’t move as fast as you, and with my injuries I’ll just weigh you down.”

“Nuh-uh. It’s my turn to take care of you. We’re going together.” Tom wanted to continue to protest, but he didn’t like to see Sonic so upset. Besides, if the kid was this insistent, who was he to argue? Placing one arm behind his son’s head, he saw stars as the hedgehog arm grazed his damaged middle. “Higher, son. My ribs won’t hurt as much if you support me there.”

“Okay.” Together they walked forward, slow step after slow step. Tom didn’t want to complain further; going this slow had to be agonizing for his speedy son. His vision blurred and pain sharpened with every step. He stubbornly held onto his son and his hope that he’d remain upright until they found a good stopping place. Then he’d try once more to convince his son to go and find help.

*******

Sonic guided Tom across the rock, carefully maintaining his grip as he helped his human along the slick, rocky surface. Even though rain was no longer falling, it would require sunlight and warm temperatures to evaporate whatever moisture remained on the rocky surface, and that required time. Time that they didn’t have.

Tom’s breathing was getting lighter, softening to barely a whisper, and Sonic was afraid. His human was getting harder to keep a grip on, as with every step seemed to encourage more stumbling, and he had neither the leverage nor the strength to yank him back upright every single time. As it was, with every stumble his human was leaning on him more and more, which hampered his own speed. He kept his eyes peeled for a sheltered place to rest, which currently was nowhere to be seen nor easily attained.

They were making progress, though. They had just crossed a wide swath of open rock, reaching sparse brush and the occasional short tree that barely impeded their progress. Miraculously, Tom didn’t stumble even once. Sonic would take whatever miracles he could. His footsteps plodded oh-so-slowly, making their journey seem to stretch out for eternity. Normally an agonizing feeling, he took comfort in it. Between the wild ride he had jut experienced and the quick escape that had been executed, he was okay with some downtime. The feeling of his dad’s arm around his shoulders and his own arms around his dad’s chest without any danger at the moment was reminiscent of their first night camping. Had that really been _just last night_? Time had flown, and not in a good way.

“It looks like there’s a forest ahead,” he spoke aloud, glancing upwards. “Can you make it, Donut Dad?”

“I… yes, I can make it.” Tom jerked his head. “Let’s aim for that small ridge. With the rain done for now, might as well try to get higher for safety and a better view.”

“Got it,” Sonic replied. Silence fell between both of them, and no more words were spoken the rest of the walk. Sonic wanted to say something, but whether he wanted to blame the flood or his worry he couldn’t think of anything to say. Tom’s weight was getting heavier and harder to hold, but he refused to let him go. He was worried about the incline being too steep, but as they got closer those worries were laid to rest. He saw that it rose more gradually than that first hill they had to run up. Walking up the side of this hill was a piece of cake. Looking around, he could see water and debris still moving, but it was down below them _and_ everything looked to be moving much slower now.

“See that?” Tom pointed out towards the river. Sonic’s eyes followed his arm, and saw a rocky shape jutting out from a larger landmass across the river and to the right of where they stood. “We almost hit that before, when we were trying to avoid getting sucked into the bend of the river with all that debris. Speaking of debris, just look at that mess down there.” Now that they were looking down at the river, Sonic could see a greater swath of the destruction of which before they had merely been a part. His mouth dropped open as for the first time he took in how much downed trees, house roofs, cabin walls, and other junk that was too fragmented to identify was contained within the raging torrent that had almost overwhelmed him and his dad.

“Wow. I’ve never seen so much… so much…” Sonic faltered, at a loss for words.

“Destruction,” Tom supplied with a sigh. “Yeah, flash floods are never pretty. We got good people who try to prevent them from happening or mitigate their damage, as well as the best technology possible, but unfortunately it doesn’t always work out.”

“Yeah. It looks like it’s done though.”

“Hate to say it, Sonic, but it’s not done, and it won’t be for a while.” Tom adjusted his finger to point further upwards, just upwards of the river bend. “The current of the water will be just enough to continue to shift this debris or carry it a little further downstream, especially since the Missouri river feeds through the dam into Holter Lake. With the dam broke, it means that there’s no restriction to the amount of water that feeds into the lake, and from the lake into this river. Sure, it’s probably done with ripping up more trees and houses and whatever else it can find, but the flooding will continue as long as the dam is out.”

“Geez,” Sonic said quietly.

“However, there’s good news. That rocky outcropping is connected to the same general area that we were camping, and I’d bet anything that our camping spot is somewhere across from that.”

“You’re sure?” Sonic was a little doubtful that Donut Dad could remember all that, especially after his injuries. Besides, nothing looked familiar to him, but this _was_ his first time coming here.

“Positive. Our camping spot was on the southern end of the lake, west of where it fed into the river. We almost hit that outcropping on our way downstream, so that helps. Plus, if you look to the left,” Tom swung his arm, and Sonic followed dutifully, “you can see the first couple roofs of vacation homes down there, and I _know_ we reached them after passing that rocky part. It looks like at least a couple homes survived, thank God.”

“You think the truck survived?” Sonic asked curiously, a plan beginning to form in his mind.

“Probably.” Tom shrugged before wincing again. “It _was_ on higher ground.” He began to cough, whether from excess moisture or from pain Sonic didn’t know. Now that they had a better vantage point, he had his pick for shelter, and that meant he had to take care of his human first.

“Hey, Dad, you want to sit down?” he asked. He saw his human’s lips lift up and heard him chuckle a little, and he laughed a little in response.

“Sure.” It was an _obvious_ answer for the _obviously_ dumb question. Together, with Sonic leading the direction, human and hedgehog came to the closest clump of trees.

“Good pick, Sonic. I’ll rest against the base of this tree. I’m going to try to kneel down, and then I’m going to need you to help lean me up against the trunk, okay?”

“Okay,” he agreed. Sonic braced his human as said human took a deep breath before sinking down onto his knees. A loud groan startled him, but he wouldn’t let go of the battered sheriff until he had turned him around so his back was to the truck of the tallest evergreen, legs stretched out in front of him. Looking around, Sonic spotted something and zipped away, coming back in a split second with a flat rock. Ever so carefully, Sonic propped up the injured leg upon the rock, earning him a nod of thanks from his human. He allowed silence to settle, giving time for his thoughts to finish thinking through the beginnings of the plan that had begun when Tom pointed out where they were. Taking a deep breath, he was ready to share.

“I have an idea.” He saw Tom raise an eyebrow.

“Okay. Let’s hear it.”

“I can get your phone.”

“Okaaaaay,” Tom drew out, “but how?”

“I could run across the debris.”

“Which is being carried by a crap ton of floodwater and is still moving,” Tom pointed out.

“So?! You’re injured. You need a _doctor_!” Sonic exclaimed. “And like you said, no one knows we’re here. If you can get service all the way out here, it’s the best way for us to be found.”

“Yeah, it’s one way,” Tom groaned, hand pressed against his side. “But maybe you can run around the lake and get to the other side that way.”

“I don’t know the area that well! I could only follow the shoreline so far until I get to the dam – yeah, I would know where to go from there – but _you_ said the dam was broken. What’s the point if I can’t get across?”

“True,” Tom conceded. “And if you were to attempt to cross the river either above or below us, you’re going to run into flooding and more debris. But maybe if you were able to make it to the main road –”

“I CAN’T ABANDON YOU!” The words were out of Sonic’s mouth before he could realize what was happening. “What happens to you if I’m gone for so long? What if I can never _find_ you again? What if you… you…”

Die. He would never say that word. He could think it, but he would never say it. Saying it made it _real_ , and making it real was _stupid_.

“Sonic. This isn’t going to play out like before. Not like what happened with Longclaw.” That had been a story Sonic hoped to never have to share, especially when it had embarrassingly slipped out in the motel. Tom had never prodded him to share though, which was a relief. However, he had been so scared by the ‘officer down’ call that the whole story just slipped out while in the hospital. Tom hadn’t been angry with him like he had thought he would be. His human had told him pretty much the same thing then too: _It’s not your fault_. But it _was_.

“It’s too similar. My reckless use of my powers attracted bad guys who killed her while I escaped. Here, _I’m_ the reason we were stuck in the flood to begin with. I couldn’t even use my powers to keep you from getting hurt.” He clenched his hands and looked back towards the river.

“Sonic, you’re not to blame for anything. What happened with Longclaw was an accident. You wanted to do something nice for her, and unfortunately bad guys found you both. It’s no different here. You wanted to help pack up, and nature decided it wanted to send us on a boat ride.”

“But I didn’t do anything to fight against it either,” Sonic pointed out, looking miserably back at his dad as he sat, braced against the tree. _You did_ hung unspoken between the two of them. His human’s injuries were evidence of that.

“You were young then, and you’re _still_ young,” Tom replied. There was no mistaking that compassionate look in his eyes that was aimed at him. “Your powers didn’t come with shackles or chains or even a guidebook. It’s something that requires control, responsibility, and a learning curve just like anything else.” He gestured towards his chest, where Sonic could have sworn he saw a badge, if only for a moment. “Like with my job. If you don’t have someone to guide you, you’ll get lost very fast. You haven’t had a guide for what? Ten years? If it wasn’t for those… echidnas, if I recall, you wouldn’t have been lost for so long.”

“But if it wasn’t for my stupidity, I wouldn’t have lost Longclaw. And if I don’t do something now, I’ll _lose you too_.”

“Your powers are powerful, but they can’t do everything.”

“I can’t believe that.” He looked back out towards the river and gulped. “I hate the water, now more than ever, but you’re _hurt_ because of me. This is the best plan either of us has. If I can just get to the truck and get your phone, that’ll get you help faster than if I just run all over the place trying to find someone and then dragging them over here.” His dad opened his mouth, and then closed it without protest. Sonic tried his best to not look miserable, but he was failing. If his dad couldn’t argue with him, then that meant what he said was right. It didn’t mean he liked it. Hey, he hated his own idea. _Crossing the debris field that covered those dark, cold waters not once but twice_ … he shuddered, but still maintained eye contact with his dad.

“If you can save me, the least I can do is save you back,” he finished.

“Last I checked,” Tom said, a strange look coming over his face, “you saved _me_ more times than I saved _you_. I’m just trying to even the score.”

“Pfffttt, please,” Sonic scoffed. “You’re just trying to pretend you can keep up with me.”

“No, Sonic. We both know I could never keep up with you. It’s a dad thing.” He pretended to not hear Tom’s voice crack, and ignored the little tug at his heart.

“And that’s why I have to do this,” he said, also pretending his voice wasn’t cracking in response. Human and hedgehog stared at each other for the longest time. A resigned understanding was reached.

“I can’t protect you if you try to cross by yourself.” His human inhaled sharply, and it was a moment before he could continue. “But know I’ll be with you the whole time.” 

“I know.” He had pretended to have Donut Lord as his best friend for years. He didn’t have to pretend any longer.

“Watch the debris the _entire time_. Listen to every noise you hear before and as you cross each time.” His human reached into his pants pocket, and withdrew a clinking set of black and silver. Sonic saw it tossed towards him – slow as ever, he didn’t even have to concentrate as he caught the set of truck keys. He stared at them in his hands and swallowed hard, looking back up at his dad as the instructions kept coming. “If the water is moving too fast, don’t try to outrace it. The more the water moves the more it moves every single piece of debris, and the more every single piece of debris shifts, especially against other debris. Tree trunks are going to be the safest bet for you to run on, since they’re most likely going to be the least affected by other debris crashing and rubbing against them. They’re also going to make the most solid footing you can expect to have. If you feel yourself lose your footing _at any point_ ,” Tom stressed, worry obvious in his intense gaze, “make a grab for the closest piece of debris you can and hang on. Don’t continue to run until the debris field stabilizes. Okay?”

“Okay,” Sonic nodded, grasping the set of truck keys harder than he needed to. Metal bit into his flesh, but he couldn’t care less. He took in the picture of his human as he sat there: one adult male, propped up against an evergreen tree, injured but refusing to give up, and still barking orders. What a _dad_.

“I don’t know what time it is. It’s not raining anymore, but it’s still cloudy out. It’s the beginning of summer, so darkness will probably start to fall around six, seven o’clock. If it’s dark, DON’T RUN BACK ACROSS,” his human said sternly. “You won’t be able to see anything, and you won’t help me by getting yourself killed. Don’t worry about me while you’re doing this. I’d rather you be careful than be reckless,” Tom finished. He blinked and groaned, the whole lecture probably draining whatever reserves he had left. It only solidified the speedster’s resolve.

“Promise me you won’t move,” he said, narrowing his eyes.

“Promise me that you’ll be careful.” _Figures that he’d dodge the question_.

“Only if you promise to stay put,” Sonic said stubbornly. He saw his dad sigh, and knew he won.

“I promise.” As Sonic turned around, he heard his name spoken. Turning his head, he saw Tom pause, breathe in, and smile a little goofily at him. “I love you, Space Son.” Oh _come ON_.

“We’re _really_ going to have to talk about nicknames when I get back,” he huffed, pretending that he wasn’t wiping away tears as he turned back around. “Just because _you_ give them does NOT make them automatically cool.” He sped down the hill before his dad could answer, which gave him enough time to wipe away the rest of the offending moisture. He was on a mission. There was no _crying_ on a _mission_. _Stupid Jerk Lord_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy belated Memorial Day! Yes, I was going to post *ducks* but there happened to be a problem - while I was typing, all my words turned into *****. EXACTLY like ****!!!! I didn't and still don't know why, but I couldn't change it back, especially up north with no data and no wifi. Rewrote the whole chapter from basically scratch. *inhales* If you've had this happen, please tell me how you fixed it. Or didn't. I'll google it, too, but if you've dealt with it before, that helps too. Now excuse me while I decompress. The next chapter awaits!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the late update. Further grousing can wait until after you read this chapter, though! ;-)

This didn’t feel right. He should have never let Sonic go. He should have never let Sonic tell him what he planned, and he should have never agreed to it. He needed to call Sonic back.

Tom inhaled as he opened his mouth – and winced immediately. The pain was getting worse. Whatever had been done to his ribs and lungs by that tree and his own stubborn stupidity was catching up to him, fast. He remained in his seated position against the tree, regaining his breathing. Breathing deep was tenuous at best, but he refused to go any shallower unless the pain completely overwhelmed him. He was in a bad position to become lightheaded, and that was bad news for both him and Sonic.

Sonic. The kid hadn’t appeared to panic throughout explaining the whole plan. Somehow, the scared, frightened kid back in the middle of the river had been replaced by one determined kid, with a plan and everything. He shouldn’t be surprised. Sonic had been living alone for ten years of his life. It only made sense that the kid would be able to think up a reasonable plan and be able to rebut every counter suggestion he could make. It reminded him a lot of their first road trip together. It didn’t change his feelings on the matter, but it did make him proud. Even in facing one of the greatest fears of his life, Sonic refused to give up. And since there were no more options, he had to trust his son.

He _did_ trust his son. He was just being overprotective. In a weird way, it was almost harder on him. But the sheriff wouldn’t have had it any other way. Sonic may have been adopted only recently, but the parental terror at Sonic’s willingness to risk death for him was still real. Any thought of life without Sonic was immediately repressed; Tom refused to jinx his kid like that. But it gave him an idea for how to remain awake. Shifting against the tree, and ignoring the resulting wave of pain, he reminisced on the first week they had taken the hedgehog in. This had been immediately after the Robotnik incident, when Maddie first saw what had been done to her kitchen and dining room for the first time, and Sonic and Tom together passed out on the couch.

He did his best to be supportive and caring, but Tom wondered if maybe he shouldn’t have tried to do more. Things he had taken for granted when he had been a kid, that he took for granted that every child had in Green Hills, Sonic hadn’t had. It wasn’t so much the obvious part about being alone for ten years (explained why Sonic had exploded the way he had just moments earlier), but it was more evident in the little things. Explaining to Sonic that food was better when hot, and no, dumpster diving was a hipster thing, not a normal person activity. He had been less embarrassed and more puzzled when, the first time he had taken Sonic grocery shopping, Sonic had absconded with the entire cart, leaving him alone in the checkout lane with the cashier lady. He told her to let everybody else through the line, and racing outside found Sonic standing next to the car with the groceries loaded inside it. He had Sonic put every single thing back inside the cart, and upon taking it all back into the store had him apologize to the cashier lady. Yes, money was a thing, and you kind of needed it to purchase things like food. At least Sonic hadn’t done a repeat when they took him out to eat, but he had to metaphorically put a leash on the kid when they went to the pet store. Just because it looked cool on Ollie or that it so happened to fit the feisty hedgehog didn’t mean that they had to get _everything_.

Chuckling with the memories, Tom’s laughs turned to coughs. Clenching his teeth, he struggled to keep more from spilling out, hating how even his breathing was starting to sound wet and congested. Shivering slightly, he looked up. The sun hadn’t come out at all, but even with the cloudy skies he could detect that what light there was was fading. With the light going also went whatever little warmth was present, and that wasn’t going to be fun either. His clothes were still glued to his skin thanks to all the water they had soaked up. The only upside was that he’d be too chilled to fall asleep. Forcefully, he turned his thoughts back to his son.

Sonic had still been glowing when he had zipped away – glowing, _not_ sparking. He still looked like a blue glow rod, but there hadn’t been any loose electricity sparks running around on his spiky back. Tom was torn whether or not he should have said something. Sonic had been so passionate, so firm that he was right that the human had half expected that electricity would have shot straight up into the sky, attracting attention, bringing rescue, and negating the whole plan. But that didn’t happen. The hedgehog had retained his ethereal blue glow, but he hadn’t sparked off like he had back when they had been in the middle of the water.

 _The water_ … Tom shook his head, unwilling to go down that path.

If the kid kept his head, he wouldn’t fall, and if he didn’t fall, he wouldn’t panic, and if he didn’t panic, he wouldn’t give off sparks. The fear of water the kid had shown before didn’t show at all while he was explaining his plan. Brave? Undoubtedly. Insane? God, yes, especially since it was the kid who came up with the plan in the first place. It was _his_ job to create one. He grimaced and looked down at his ribs and leg. Well, not that he was in any shape to do so. But it would have been nice to be consulted first.

Regardless, he had to continue to keep himself occupied while Sonic was gone. He was tired, but he didn’t know if that was due to his known injuries or the adrenaline wearing off. He could have a concussion for all he knew. He couldn’t let himself drift off to sleep, in case Sonic lost his way and as a precaution to prevent himself from injuring himself further.

“Hey, Maddie,” he said aloud. It was as good a time as ever to practice his husbandly ‘I’m-sorry-I-got-into-trouble’ speech, and there was no one around to hear. “Remember how I wanted to go on this camping trip? No, I got to sound more sorry, or she’ll kill me…”

*******

“Donut Dad’s going to kill me!” A certain hedgehog looked out over the landscape gloomily. The water movement was slowing down, but the debris field was still shifting and settling. Looking upwards towards the river bend, he saw the same scene unfold. Meanwhile, he was standing above it all, much higher than he had thought just so he could see over the debris piled onto the bank. He could see the rocky outcropping that Tom had told him about, saw how it gently sloped from the top of the cliff downwards until it met the water, but all he could focus on was the way the water swept the debris along. A log here or a tree there may have been sluggish to respond, but they were helpless against the current and either joined the pile or were buried underneath other debris. It didn’t help that the sun wasn’t out, causing the entire surface to look darker than it actually was, and what Sonic could actually see of the water appeared black.

"Oh man, I’m so regretting this!” Sonic moaned, zipping from side to side. “Me and my big mouth!” He zipped so fast that a shadow clone of himself was quickly formed, standing just across from him. His clone mirrored his actions and facial expression of disgust, and was more than ready to join in. He didn’t do it as often now as he had before moving in with the Wachowskis, but there was nothing like actually talking to yourself’s self standing across from you, sponsored by the power of super speed.

“Yeah, you and your big mouth!” he chastised.

“I know!” he wailed.

“What were you thinking?”

“I don’t know!” He wailed. “Why didn’t you stop me?”

“Stop _me_? This is you we’re talking about, Sonic.”

“So? You should know when to stop me from spitting out crazy stupid ideas,” he accused.

“What? Since when?”

“Since forever!”

“Is it really crazy compared to what you did with Eggman?”

“Well, no, but –”

“What other choice did you have?”

“None! At least, none I could think of!” He stared gloomily out towards the chaos that had taken their amazing trip and turned it upside down. “Whatever made me think that this was going to work?” he moaned.

 _Because it’s your_ dad. He turned to where his ‘self’ had been standing, now just another worn spot in the grass. He looked down at his red and white shoes, then up towards the rocky outcropping. He swallowed hard.

Sonic knew he knew why. His initial enthusiasm was currently fighting his very rational fear of water – especially _that_ water! But his _dad_ went into that same water to go after him, and had broken ribs, trouble breathing, and a stick through his leg for what he did. Sonic had been too terrified then to do anything – whether or not he could have was going to be argued out with Tom later – but he could return the favor. He had to. He wouldn’t lose his dad, not even when told to do so. Tom had looked so worried, but all that was for him – Sonic – not for himself. No matter what his human thought, he wouldn’t be abandoned – _ever_.

He had to start, and he had to do it now. He could feel the air shift, air ruffling his quills and fur. Thanks to his running, he was drier now than he had been inside the canoe. His dad on the other hand – but no, no thinking like that! Tom would be fine as long as he stuck to the plan. All he had to do was cross the river, grab the phone, and speed back over. Looking down, he noticed that the pile of debris closest to him was unmoving. A jumble of logs, with the nearest one canted at an angle, with one end buried somewhere on what remained of the shoreline, just above the water, and the other end was pointing towards the rock on the other side. The middle of the debris field still appeared to shift and move, but the other side looked as still as the side he stood on.

 _If I run and get enough momentum_ , he thought, _I could jump and land on the other side. But I’ve never jumped that far before. What if I miss?_ He shuddered briefly before perking up. _I could always roll up into a ball, but what if my power activates? Electricity and water don’t mix, and if I lose control_ …

 _You won’t lose control_. That voice sounded an awful lot like Tom. Sonic looked around suspiciously, but no, his human did not appear.

 _You don’t know that_ , he thought, almost hoping for an answer.

_You don’t know that you will. You had a good idea, now you just need to figure out how to make it work. Trust yourself._

_Oh sure. ‘Trust myself’? Really? That’s the best you got?_ he snarked. Even though he could see that there was no one else there, his hands came up and started gesticulating wildly. _Might as well say, ‘Use the Force, Luke,’ even though I’m not Luke, I’m more like the Flash, so then it would be the Speedforce, and then that would sound even weirder, because the Speedforce is where all speedsters go when they die butI’mnotgoingthereand_ you’re _notgoingtheresoit’scompletelyridiculoustoevenmakethecomparisoninthefirstplaceandseehowcrazyI’mgettingsowhydoyouevensayIgottatrustmyselfinthefirst –_

 _Because I do_. The hedgehog huffed. His human-even-though-it-wasn’t-really _would_ say something like that. Good thing he knew for a fact that his human wasn’t telepathic, otherwise he’d continue ranting at the air around him. His thoughts were right though. His dad had every reason to yell at him for screwing up their camping trip, and instead he was the one giving comfort and reassurance. Tom wouldn’t want him to feel guilty, and so he accepted his-human-actually-his-imagination’s advice and refocused. He was wasting precious time second-guessing himself, and he had to make a decision now.

Narrowing his eyes at the closest log, Sonic decided he’d drop onto it. Between the steep angle of the hill he was on and how his side of the debris field rested, he felt confident he could start there. As he began to move, the clinking of metal and plastic reminded him. Taking the edge of one of his gloves between thumb and forefinger, he lifted it up just enough to allow access to one set of truck keys. There. They should be safe during the crossing. He had a feeling he’d need _both_ his hands for this. Placing one foot out into midair, he kicked out with the other, bringing him forward just slightly before gravity took hold. He fell onto the log, it’s rough surface biting at his hands, but he grabbed at it until he felt his momentum slow. He looked down at the water his feet dangled above and shuddered. Too close.

The log didn’t move at all through that movement, which gave the hedgehog time to look around for the next closest piece of debris. There were enough pieces scattered around that he could jump onto, but the angle of the log he rested on now rose through the air, and it was pointing towards the rocky outcropping. If he ran across it…

Looking across to where the end of the log pointed, he saw a spot in the middle where, despite the flow, there appeared several large trees floating. If he ran now, he could catch them! His feet both finding their footing on the bark, they propelled him up the side of the log and into the air. “Woohoo!” he shouted, feeling himself soar through the air – and nervous once he realized that he might have misjudged the distance. He watched as the ends of the tree trunks passed oh-so-slowly beneath his feet, and white-hot panic exploded.

“Oh crap!” he yelled, then shut his mouth, hoping that Tom hadn’t heard him. Waving his arms and kicking wildly, he looked from side to side, hoping desperately to find anything, anything at all! Another log, the side of a house maybe, or – wait, that worked! Folding his knees into his chest, he aimed his feet downwards and just slightly to the left. Hopefully there was something propping all that splintered wood up out of the water as it floated downstream. Revving his feet, as soon as shoe touched wood, he sped across. Must have been part of a dock or something, because there was a metal pole all bent out of shape that twisted its way back and forth across the wood. He had to watch his steps as he ran, careful to pick up his feet as he ran across. He stopped suddenly as the end dropped out from underneath his feet, only to drop onto another tree trunk. His hands barely kept him from faceplanting into the bark.

“Ow!” he grumbled as he picked himself up. “Stupid wood.” This tree ran parallel to the far shore instead of towards it, and Sonic glanced around frantically at the floating debris. He was now over halfway across, and he could see that though he was facing the rocky outcropping the debris he stood on was causing him to move downstream, even though the pace didn’t feel quick at all. He’d have to switch to another piece of debris to get better access to the outcropping. Turning his head to the right, he saw another log jutting up and out of the pile, pointing directly towards the rock. Before he could move, he heard a strange gurgling noise. Taking a quick look downwards, he saw a gush of water move up to surround his shoes for a brief moment before vanishing. He suppressed a shudder. _Yeah, don’t look down again_.

Transitioning into a quick jog, he propelled himself up and into the air, achieving a smoother landing on the log but had to wave his arms to maintain balance as it bucked and shifted underneath his feet. If he thought about it, it was almost like riding that bull machine back in that bar. The brief memory brought a smile to the hedgehog’s face, and there it stayed. As the movement slowed, his courage renewed itself, and he started to edge along the surface of the log, eyes peeled for his next ride. There! It looked like a piece of concrete sitting on the water somehow, not very wide but appearing to be stable, and of course it got him closer to the rocky shoreline. Even better, it was brushing up against the log he was currently on. With merely a step, he switched rides. Looking for the next one, he felt the surface he stood on shake, and without looking down this time he took off running. In one flying leap, he moved from concrete back to another downed tree.

“Aw, c’mon!” he whined. “Seriously, how many trees are being wasted here? Mother Nature really needs a lecture.” He glanced back to where the concrete slab was, only to see it rise up and tip over, courtesy of the water-driven trees that acted as the driving force from underneath. “Uh, okay, Mother Nature, I take that back. Totally did not just say that!” Turning back around towards the rocky outcropping, he realized that with those downed trees rising his own log had been pushed closer to the shoreline. If he were to stay on the tree trunk, it would collide with the rocks and then he could switch this wet, crazy ride with nice, dry, solid ground. Bracing his body, he readied himself for the collision, only to get jerked to the left at the last second. Unwilling to be distracted again, and confident in his judgment of the distance, he leapt off the surface of the log and stretched his hands out towards the nearest boulder that sat there. Time slowed down to a crawl as he felt himself simultaneously go forward even as gravity began to take hold. Almost there. Just…

one…

more…

inch…

...

..

.

There.

Hugging himself to the smoothened boulder, he hoisted himself up and onto solid ground. Resisting the urge to kiss it (he didn’t want to be spitting out dirt), he regained his breathing and turned around. The log that he had been standing on was now several feet downstream from him, and the likely culprit of that result was a partial wooden wall, broken in such a way that the window above the water remained intact. He could have sworn that that hadn’t been there when he last looked around. This time he let loose and shuddered, a result from both the adrenaline and the worry combined. Hopefully his crossing back over would be less hazardous. Fingers gripped and feet scuffed the rocky, sandy soil, and after what seemed like an eternity he rose, and after dusting his hands cupped them around his mouth.

“Donut Dad!” he called. “I made it across the river! I’m heading to the truck now, and then I’ll cross back over, easy peasy! If you move, I’m telling Pretzel Lady!” He laughed to himself as he raced up the slope, jingling the keys he held within his glove. “That was easier than I expected. Next stop: Truck!”

*******

Tom sighed as he heard what he figured was Sonic’s update. Although it was better than what had sounded like yelling earlier – almost causing a heart attack in the process – it still raised his blood pressure. What was that kid _thinking_ , poking at Murphy’s Law like that? He probably _wasn’t_ thinking, that boy. He reached back to knock the tree trunk that he was propped up against – twice – careful to not jostle his body too much in the process. Hopefully that would counteract his son’s statement. _If he dies, I’m going to kill him_ , he thought grimly even as he began to pray. It was the least he could do to try and offset the jinx, and his reminiscing was getting ridiculously sappy anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was hard to write. I wrote and rewrote and rewrote some more, and now it's posted. Next chapter is started and it's on its way! 
> 
> Geez, I'd like to meet Sonic and Donut Lord at some point. Or I'll just watch the movie another three times...


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy (belated) Fourth of July! God bless America! I hope you all were able to enjoy the holiday weekend.

“Knew it!” Sonic laughed as he ran full-throttle towards the truck, feet spewing mud and grass behind him. “I found you!” He almost wished that it had taken longer to find. Almost. While he enjoyed the run he had been granted across the top of the cliff – the best stress relief _ever_ – he knew he was running on borrowed time. Go to the truck, get the phone, and run back over – a mantra that he had repeated over and over and over again. Once he grabbed the phone, he’d have to run back the way he came – back over the debris-flooded river.

But he could worry about that later. Withdrawing the keys from his glove, he unlocked the doors with a push of the button as he continued his run. Keys went back into the glove as he lunged for the door. Barely did his ears register the sound of the doors unlocking before gloved hands wrapped around the handle and yanked the door open. Unfortunately, he hadn’t thought past that.

“WHOOOOAAAHHHAAOOOOHHHHH!!!” he yelled as the door shot back, rocketing him off his feet. “Pop quiz, hotshot: why won’t this STOOOOOOOOOOPPP?” He felt the door suddenly yank before starting back in the other direction, and figured that the best course of action to take was to let go and drop down. “Uh! Gross!” Or not. He spit out the mud that had decided to warp itself inside his mouth and lifted up his head – only to duck it back down into the muddy ground to watch the truck door rock back and forth, it’s swinging motion brushing over his ears and quills as it did so. Fortunately, after a couple more violent shakes, it slowed down to a stop.

“Note to self: Stop running before I open the door. Otherwise, Donut Dad is going to be furious if I wreck his truck!” he laughed, picking himself up and wiping the mud off his face. After a quick shake where chunks of mud flew off, the more-or-less clean hedgehog zoomed over to the inside driver’s side. He perched himself just on the edge of the seat, feet planted on the running board as he began to look around. “Now, cell phone, cell phone, cell phone! Oh magical piece of plastic and circuitry, where are you?” His head went back and forth so fast that he literally didn’t see it hanging out in the cup holder until the screen lit up, causing his attention to hone in on it. “Oh! There you are!” Grabbing it, he squinted at the screen. “Huh, a ‘Brad’ is calling. Guess I better answer!” Poking at the green icon on screen, he lifted the phone up to where he could hear. “Hello, you have reached the voicemail of the one and only Donut Lord! I’m sorry; he’s not able to take your call right now, but if you leave your name and number I’ll certainly place you into the queue!”

“… This is Sonic, isn’t it?” A heavy sigh made that sound more like a statement than a question.

“No, no I am the one and only voicemail for my dad!” Sonic exclaimed, before freezing. Brad wouldn’t know about that, because they had met before the fishing before the campfire before the papers before the rain before the utter disaster. “Uh… I mean…”

“It’s okay, kid. Tom told me ahead of time. He needed someone else to vent to about government bureaucracy.” Okay. Maddie knowing about it made sense, but Brad? Had everyone known except him? If so, there’d better be one big party waiting for him at home. “So, I take it you guys made it out in time and you’re just stealing your dad’s phone for no reason?” Sonic laughed nervously.

“Uh… heh heh… well… so, uh, funny thing is…”

“Sonic, where’s Tom?” Wow, he turned in Mr. Serious pretty fast.

“Hey, he’s okay!” Sonic immediately defended. It wasn’t a lie. Tom was okay – for not being d-e-a-d. “We’re both okay. We just need you to come pick us up. Like, _now_.”

“Why?” Again, Sonic laughed nervously. How to put it?

“Uh… we might have taken a water ride down the lake around the riverbend before crash-landing onto this rocky area in the middle of the lake. At least, I think it’s in the middle of the lake.”

“You were _in_ the flash flood?”

...

“Uh…”

“YOU WERE IN THE FLASH FLOOD??!!!” Sonic winced as he held the phone out, waiting for the yelling to stop. When it did, he brought it back in.

...

“… Yeah?”

“How are you both not dead?!”

“I have no idea!” he said, doing his little dance outside the truck. Finishing with the twirl at the end, he continued. “I just know that you can tell where I am right now and that means you can find where Tom is too.”

“Not if he’s not with you.”

“Oh, right. I’m going to have to cross over the river again.”

“What do you mean, _again_?” Sonic still winced. Although the volume rose, it wasn’t as bad as when Brad had been yelling at him.

“Hey, it’s the only idea I had!” Sonic defended. “Dad’s hurt, and I had to get us found somehow.”

“Wait, Tom’s hurt?! Why didn’t you say anything?” Sonic was at a loss for words. How to condense the events of the past few hours and his emotional turmoil into a short explanation?

“Uh….”

“How bad?” Gosh, Brad was going to kill him when he came to pick them up.

“… yeah?” he shrugged the other arm as he responded, secretly hoping that the questioning would stop now.

“Do you even answer questions?”

“Maaaaaayyyyyyyybeeeeeee,” Sonic extended his vowels, hoping his deniability sounded plausible. “Can you come pick us up?”

“First, tell me what happened to Tom.” Was it funny to think he sounded exactly like the sheriff when mad? “And second, I can only pick you up when you get back over to his position and you call me from there. I have equipment that can triangulate your position using your cell signal.”

“Fine, fine,” Sonic grumbled. “He’s got a couple ribs broken, and there’s a branch or something stuck in his leg. But seriously, he’s fine.” His voice cracked at the end of his statement, causing him to wince. Hopefully Brad didn’t notice that.

“You did _not_ drag him over with you, did you?”

“Tch. Of course not! I left him back in a very easy-to-find spot. Besides, he’s still awake and all, so there’s no chance of me losing him!” He quickly knocked on the truck door to counteract any jinx coming from his statement. No, it wasn’t wood, but it was solid enough to work – he hoped.

“Was he bleeding at all? Did he look like he had a concussion?”

“I mean, I didn’t see any bleeding. And I barely even know what a concussion looks like!” he protested. “But he’s talking and he’s not unconscious. Does that help?”

“A little.” Sonic thought for a moment to add that Tom wasn’t breathing like normal, but decided against it. Brad was mad enough at him for the moment. “Okay, here’s what you need to do. Grab the medical kit Tom keeps in the back underneath that seat, should be behind the driver’s side.” Using the tab on the side of the driver’s side seat to lower the seat forward, Sonic reached forward towards the back underneath the seat and grabbed the kit. He had known where it was, but he didn’t feel like interrupting Tom’s third best friend. “Take that with you. In case he does end up bleeding or I can’t get any medical personnel to come with me, we’ll need it.”

“Uh, _duh_!” he shot back. “What else should I grab?”

“If there’s a backpack, empty whatever is in there and put the kit inside. That way it’ll be easier to carry.” On the floor behind the driver’s seat was a backpack. Sonic flipped it upside down and shook out its contents before stuffing the kit inside, listening intently as Brad continued talking. “Take a flashlight too, in case we have troubles with the cell signal. Point it up towards the sky if and when I tell you to. And grab a blanket or something, because it’s getting cold out.”

“10-4, Mr. Park Ranger, sir,” he said in his best snarky voice. “I’ll call you again once I get back to Dad.” He glanced around the back area once, twice before seeing the crumpled blanket they had used inside the tent. Stuffing that inside the backpack as well, he depressed the tab once more to lift the seat back into its original upright position.

“You better. And tell Tom I’m going to kill him if he dies on me.” A brief pause marked the end of that statement, which made Sonic’s heart rate increase. The fate of one person hung in the balance, but so did every single relationship that had ever been built with him, which included him – and Brad. God forbid that the worst should happen. “Be safe, Sonic.”

“Hah! I’m always safe!” he bragged, ending the call. He slid the phone inside to rest on the bottom of the backpack. Spotting a flashlight located inside the driver’s side door, he snagged it and stuck it inside the backpack as well. “Backpack, check. Kit, check. Flashlight, check. Blanket, check. Guess that’s it!” he said, grabbing onto the driver’s side door and preparing to shut it. It came to him moments before the door would have latched closed, not that it would have made much of a difference as he still had the keys, and he yanked the door back open. Crawling up onto the seat, he reached towards the middle compartment and gently unlatched it, peering inside.

The packet lay inside undisturbed, untouched but for a few rain droplets that had dried on the outside. The truck itself hadn’t been touched by the floodwaters, but he had to check to make sure his papers were intact, just to be absolutely sure. The hedgehog bit his lip, torn between his conflicting emotions. On the one hand, he wanted to keep them here in the truck, where they’d for sure be safe. On the other hand, if he took them with him, then he wouldn’t have to sneak into Tom’s room like the last time he was in the hospital. He’d be able to wave them in the doctor’s face and be like, “Pop quiz, lab coat! What forms do these look like? That’s right! They’re my adoption papers!" He could go anywhere! He’d have the power to do anything!

…

…

… Okay, he already had the power, and he could do anything he wanted to for the most part, but this way he could guarantee he’d stay by his dad’s side the entire ride to the hospital and the entire stay there. Last time, Maddie had had to babysit him whenever he wanted to wander around the hospital, keeping him from getting kicked out due to the fact that hospital staff were grumpy and mean and insisted on knowing your exact relation to so-and-so. Just one hour of wandering around on his own and half of the hospital staff was up in arms. It wasn’t his fault he was too cool to look human.

His mind made up, he shrugged off the backpack and reopened it to gently slide the packet behind the medical kit. Zipping the backpack closed, he shut the middle compartment and shuffled back until his shoes landed back in the mud outside the truck. He took hold of the door and slammed it shut, and taking the keys back out of his glove, he locked the vehicle back up again. Replacing the keys inside his glove, he turned to face the direction he had come from and took a deep breath. He got this.

*******

Brad breathed out a sigh as he heard the line go dead. Knowing the hedgehog for only a short time, he understood Tom’s protectiveness towards the feisty creature. The poor kid sounded like he was barely keeping it together, a shadow of his former self from just a day prior. Then again, he was one to talk.

Rubbing his eyes with one hand, as much to dispel the worry as the things he had seen in the last twenty-four hours and counting, he reawakened his phone, squinting against the glare. Normally he wouldn’t keep his office this dark, but he had been trying to use his brief break for a well-deserved nap. That was before worry interrupted his attempts to sleep and caused him to call Tom’s phone. Now his worry had been increased with the call, and he knew he wouldn’t be getting sleep anytime soon.

It had been an all-hands-on-deck situation since the previous evening, and it was only recently that leadership had been allowing members to take their normal hour-long break. Well, it would be an hour-long break for a _normal_ twelve-hour shift. For an emergency situation? Good luck. Sleep and eating became afterthoughts, and when not immediately preoccupied with evacs and rescue missions, he’d joke with his coworkers that both were for the weak and ribbed every single person before him who got relieved. Until it was his turn, and then he was off before anyone knew he was gone. Now he had to go rescue his friend and that friend’s kid. A smirk briefly crossed his face. At least Tom would owe him, big time. Using one hand, he scrolled through his contacts until he found the name he was looking for. He tapped the name, hit the number, and put it on speaker as he brought up a map of the area on the laptop that sat in front of him.

“Mike? It’s me, Brad. We got two more people we gotta rescue. Remember Tom? Yeah, he has a kid now, and guess where they decided to take vacation…”

*******

His brain felt froze. Sonic blinked his eyes once, twice, hoping that the action would jog his brain into action. Nothing so far. Maybe he should have grabbed a soda from the truck before leaving. Caffeine was _magical_ , as he had found out much to his dad’s chagrin. He walked down the incline, careful to keep his weight centered just enough over his legs so he wouldn’t wobble. He still kept his eyes focused ahead, only looking down when he saw himself arrive at the river’s edge. He scooted back to keep his shoes safe from the water line, but that did little to ease his worry.

The debris field was floating away. Sure, he was seeing what looked to be the same mat of logs he had crossed over on, but where it had stretched back towards the bend and beyond it now only reached ten, maybe fifteen feet in front of him, clear, open water bordering it from behind. How could it move that fast in, what – ten, fifteen minutes? He couldn’t have been that long running to the truck and back. Besides, there really should have been more debris. But there wasn’t, and soon there wouldn’t be. Now only seconds had passed by, but the debris still continued to move past him. If it had been hours earlier, he would have been happy that the debris field was ending, but that was earlier! Nature couldn’t do this to him – remove his only chance to cross back over!

“Ohmanohmanohmanohmanohman!” he said worriedly, trying to keep his voice low so Tom wouldn’t accidentally overhear him. “What – what am I going to do now?” As he spoke those words, he saw the tail end of one of the logs bobbing up and down, passing him with ease. The logs on either side of it weren’t as closely packed as before, allowing more water to pass between and around them. Now he was facing less than ten feet left of the debris field. _Okay, Sonic, think! If I run fast enough_ , he thought, _I could make it across where I’d only have to barely land on each log, just enough to keep my momentum going, and enough to get me somewhere close to the shoreline where I started on the other side. I’ll have to start using this slope I’m on. It’s rocky and steep, but it’ll get me started. The speed will carry my weight so I won’t have to worry about rocking the logs as violently as I did last time, but I won’t be able to stop on a dime if…_

No. No, that wasn’t going to happen. He was going to judge the distance correctly, and he was going to time it right, because he was Sonic the hedgehog, gifted with super speed on top of his good looks and intelligence. If the last crossing proved anything, thinking on his feet had opened up ways to get across the debris field that he hadn’t thought of, using his terrain instead of the other way around. Now he was starting to overthink things, and the more he thought, the more his opportunities to use the same debris field were slipping away. He had someone who depended on him to make it, and that someone trusted his judgment. If he trusted himself before, he could trust himself now.

Only five feet left lay between him and the open water coming downstream. Gulping, he tugged hard on the backpack straps over each shoulder, and then felt something brush his waist. “What?” he glanced down. Two straps, one on either side of him and each carrying their portion of plastic on their ends, dangled from somewhere behind him. He then craned his head back to get a better view. “Oh right, you guys come from the backpack. You’re just another strap, but a strap for my waist. How silly of me to forget.” Taking the straps in his hands, he buckled them together around his waist and pulled them until they sat snug. “That’s much better! Yeah, we’re about to go on a wild ride, and this way I make sure you guys stick with me. There’s too much important stuff I’m carrying to risk it.” _For someone too important to lose_.

Turning back around, he climbed up the slope. It seemed steeper than it had last time, but that was probably due to it getting darker, not so dark that he couldn’t see but dark enough where almost the entire path was shrouded in shadow. He began to speed up his feet with every step he took, picking up speed just enough so he could pivot on his foot upon reaching the top. Turning back around to face the bottom where he knew he had to get his start, he saw the tail end of the debris meet and begin to pass it. Something fierce rose within him.

 _Now_.

He cranked up the speed as he ran down the slope, furious determination and unbridled optimism combined to create such intent focus on reaching the closest piece of debris that was trying to slip past unnoticed. Pop quiz, hotshot: What’s blue, fast, and totally gonna catch you?

“ME!” he shouted as he leapt off, feet leaving muddy stone to touch down upon wet bark. _Hah. Made it_. He saw enough with his super speed that he had the rest of the length of the log to run, and so he did, leaping high into the air to drop down onto another log below. It was partially submerged, but feet going easily sixty miles an hour (give or take a few) didn’t care. He traveled that log until the water forced him to take another leap, this time landing only to stumble onto part of a wall, battered and shredded along one side – the same side that was raised out of the water and facing his next target. It just couldn’t be that easy. He groaned as he steadied himself by waving his hands around in mid air before continuing at a run.

“Sonic to Houston: Next time, CLEAR THE RUNWAY!” he shouted. Running up the splintered edge to head to his next objective, he was glad he had his good shoes on. Otherwise, this would really hurt, and Donut Dad would be upset. Once he got to the extreme edge, he put his weight towards the balls of his feet, just enough to prepare to jump off. However, something was faster than him, because with a loud shriek of wood scraping against metal the wall shifted, causing Sonic to flail his arms out and around and his shoes to lose traction and slip off. Sonic was now heading towards the water, and he would faceplantandgounderandsink unless he did something fast. Crap. Gulping, he flailed around, looking for some surface to grab onto or push off of, hoping it would save him, when he felt something jerk the backpack he had strapped to him. Twisting around in the straps that now held him captive, he looked up, and saw that the shredded edge was catching onto his backpack by the left arm strap. A pain to run on, sure, but fortunately it turned out to have its other uses.

“Whew!” he exclaimed. “Didn’t think that would be such a _cliffhanger_!” Taking the few extra, precious seconds he now had, he looked down and around for his next go-to point. Most of the logs around him were only partially submerged, but all were crisscrossed with other pieces to form a ragged patchwork of debris that shifted and changed with the flow of the current. Gaps in between the logs would open one moment only to close the next, not big enough to fall through but big enough where one misplaced step would almost certainly guarantee another mishap. He glanced up towards his intended destination: the opposite shoreline.

With just that glance Sonic knew that returning to the exact place where he had started wouldn’t happen, and he wouldn’t even be close. However, tree and brush was slowly giving way to rocky ground, looking similar to the ledge he and his human had been washed up on, which meant he could retrace his steps as soon as he got to shore. But how to get there? A glance to his left showed him open water encroaching on his immediate space, causing the wall he was hanging from to wobble back and forth more readily, and a glance to his right showed what remained of the debris field. Unstable though it was, it would have to work. Thinking quickly, he reached up with both hands to grab at the wall that kept him suspended in midair while beginning to rock his body back and forth. He kept reaching, straining to get his hands high enough to get on top of the edge. Gaining momentum with every rock, he ignored the increasing vibrations and movements of the wall he hung from. They didn’t matter in the least as long as he could –

“YES!” he shouted as splintered slivers of wood dug into his gloved fingers. Gripping for dear life, he completed another swing forward, and as he swung back he stuck his feet out as far as he could behind him. As soon as he felt something hard hit his heels, he shot off of it in the next millisecond, simultaneously releasing his grip. Curling up into a ball, he spun faster and faster until he felt reasonably sure he could stop. Suddenly ceasing his movement, he uncurled in midair, arms and legs almost fully extended. He was higher than anticipated, but it gave him the extra seconds he needed to make a decision.

He quickly looked down and around for the next log or object he needed to continue on, anything looking remotely stable. That was when a flash of blue caught his eye, and he saw to his utter shock blue lightning beginning to spark around his arms. “Nonononononotagain!” he muttered, willing with everything he had to keep it contained. Looking down again, he saw to his relief that the closest patchwork of logs appeared to remain mostly above water and were stuck close enough together where he could not see any obvious gaps. He was going to land hard (probably), but he could deal with that (obviously). Pedaling furiously midair, he watched with bated breath as he neared the still floating mass.

As soon as he felt the barest hint of rubber meeting wood, he zipped across so fast he could have sworn he smelled burnt wood. Loud splashes of water sounded to correspond to the way his feet seemed to dip with every step, but he refused to pay attention to that. He wasn’t all the way across yet. Fortunately, whether because of how the bank curved or because of how the power of the current had tossed about the debris, here the debris field seemed to be more stable as he ran and jumped from cluster to cluster of downed tree trunks and other assorted junk. It was just as destructive as before, but it carpeted the water just enough where he could run, leap, or change directions fast enough without having to worry too hard about debris shifting or gaps forming. A turn here, a jump there, some more running, and he almost barely recognized the change from hard wood to soft grass. He would have relished the change, but the weight on his back reminded him of his mission. He didn’t recognize this part of the bank, but it had been connected to the area where he knew he had started his journey. Donut Dad was somewhere here. He just had to run until he found him.

“I’M COMING, DAD!” he shouted at the top of his lungs.

*******

He wasn’t under that tree. He wasn’t under that tree. Nope, not that tree. Definitely not that tree – oh wait, that was a bush. Sonic zipped back and forth trying to find the exact spot where he had left his human.

“Not here. Notherenotherenotherenotherenothere,” he was chanting over and over again as he sped to and from every single tree. It was getting darker, but he could still see okay for the most part. Besides, Dad would be grumpy if he got a flashlight to the face. “Definitelynotherenortherenoranywhere –”

“OOF!” A loud whoosh of air exploded out from him as he tripped over something, landing head first on the ground. “Oh great, Sonic!” he exclaimed, picking himself back up and dusting his knees and legs off. He turned around to look exactly where he had tripped. “You just had to trip over a root, didn’t you? When will you ever pay attention to where you’re –” he left off, looking back at the ground where he had tripped. That was either the thickest root he had ever tripped over or that would be a pant leg. And trees didn’t wear pants. He should know. He had lived among them for years. Looking up from where the leg rested, he saw a familiar face. Relief filled him. His search was over.

“DAD!” he shouted, coming up to hug the figure resting beneath the tree. “I’m so glad I found you! Why didn’t you say anything? I was so –” he cut himself off to take another look at his human, his excitement at finding his dad being overtaken by worry. Tom wasn’t trying to interrupt him, or even better, roll his eyes at him (he was told it was an adult thing). No, he was still, and cold. Panic took over. Grabbing at the human’s shoulders, Sonic began to shake him.

“DAD!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COVID-19 can suck it. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. As usual, I don't own anything, unless it's the storyline itself and my OCs.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's get the hedgehog the award he deserves and tell the industry how much that movie means to us! Vote for the Sonic movie on Twitter for E! People's Choice Award for The Family Movie of 2020! #SonicTheHedgehog  
> See end of chapter for the rest of the notes. :-)

“DAD!” Sonic screamed. _Notagainnotagainnotagainnotagain_. His mind raced as he reached forward and grabbed both shoulders. What was he to do? Yeah, shaking him wouldn’t help his ribs, but he couldn’t think of anything else to do! Hands clutching each shoulder tightly, he continued to rock the human back and forth. He couldn’t lose his dad, he just couldn’t!

**cough**

…

Wait, what was that noise?

...

**cough**

Yeah, that? That sounded familiar, and it was repeating itself over and over and was becoming more frequent, which meant –

“I guess,” Tom coughed out, “I’m going to have to teach you how to find a pulse now.”

“DAD!” Hands came off the human’s shoulders to wrap around him in a death grip. Tom coughed some more.

“Not so hard, Sonic,” he said, wheezing. “M’ribs, ‘member?”

“Oh, right!” Hastily releasing him, Sonic nevertheless remained next to the human, closely watching him. “I’m sorry, Dad!”

“I should be apologizing,” Tom huffed, briefly turning his head aside and spit something out of his mouth. “I guess I fell asleep after all. I was trying my best to remain awake so I could help you find your way back, but –”

“No, it’s my fault for shaking you!” Sonic retorted, gesturing wildly. “I know you said to not shake you and to be careful of your ribs but you were still and you didn’t look like you were breathing and –” He stopped when he saw one of his hands get grabbed. Tom took the gloved hand gently, pressing it between both of his.

“It’s okay, Sonic. I’m still here. I’m not leaving you.” He began to chuckle. “But there are better ways to see if someone is alive.” He gently curled Sonic’s fingers into the palm one at a time until one remained sticking out, the index finger, and then brought that finger to his neck. “Feel that, that beat?” Sonic nodded, tongue-tied. “It’s called a pulse. That’s how you know my heart is still working. If you can’t tell there,” he moved Sonic’s hand down to his wrist where he encouraged Sonic’s fingers to rest against the skin just below the palm, “move it here. Feel that?” Sonic nodded again. It felt lighter than the neck though, almost nonexistent. He didn’t like that. “If that doesn’t tell you anything, go here,” the hand moved to linger on the damp shirt on Tom’s chest. Like the neck, the beat here felt steady and strong. “And if you can’t feel it there, take your hand and place it within an inch of my face.” He moved Sonic’s hand once more, so close to his face that Sonic’s hand grew warmth from the breaths he felt hit his palm. “You feel me breathing on your hand? That’s a good sign too. What do all four tell you?”

“You’re alive,” Sonic said, resisting the urge to cry. Crying was _stupid_ , and it didn’t matter now. Everything was going to be okay.

“Yes, I am.” Tom began to cough again, which reminded Sonic of what Brad had told him.

“Okayokayokay,” he began as he shrugged off the backpack. Unzipping it so fast that the metal shot sparks, he began to pull out the items from the backpack. “I got the phone to call BradbuthesaidthatIneededthisblanketandthatIshouldbringthemedicalkittoo –”

“First things first,” Tom coughed. “Hand me the blanket. It’s getting colder, and I’d prefer to not shiver the rest of the time we have to wait for Brad to get here.”

“Okay.” Sonic took and shook out the blanket, before handing one edge to his human, who then bent forward so that the rest of the blanket could be passed behind his back. As the sheriff leaned back up against the tree, Sonic was zipping behind the tree and over to the other side to catch the other corner of the blanket, which he again handed over. Now clutching both corners of the blanket, Tom shuddered and continued to cough as he hugged it close and tight around his body. Although not going away completely, the coughs gradually decreased in number and the shivering lessened. “Does that feel better, Dad?”

“Yeah. Thanks, son.” A smile was shot in his direction, and it further eased his concerns. His heart rate was finally returning to normal. Everything really _was_ going to be okay.

“Here.” He handed his human the flashlight that had been lying on the ground. “Brad said we might need it too.” Tom set the flashlight down on the ground next to his good leg and mumbled his assent before coughing again. Still sounding a little harsh, but it no longer sounded like he was hacking up a lung. He picked up the phone with his gloved hands, unlocked it, and found the number he needed. “I’m calling Brad now.”

“Good idea.” Tom coughed again, but appeared to relax once finished. Sonic still kept his eyes on his human as he raised the phone to his ear. His dad seemed to be okay, but as he had learned you couldn’t be sure. He had to be sure. Brad would be able to tell him, once he was on the line. He’d better answer soon – the ringing noise was driving him nuts.

“Come on,” he muttered. “Pick up.” He resisted the urge to pace back and forth; his anxiety was shooting through the roof to the point that he couldn’t guarantee he’d stay in the same area even if he tried. If that happened, he’d have to find Tom all over again, and that was the _last_ thing he wanted to do. Then he heard a soft ‘click’ and a familiar voice began to speak.

“Hey, Tom?”

“Brad! It’s Sonic!” the blue hedgehog replied, remembering at the last possible second to slow down his speech. “I got back over and I’m with Dad now.”

“Sonic? Good job, kid! How’s Tom doing?”

“He’s got a blanket around him now, keeping him warm.” The sheriff, deafness _not_ being one of his injuries, raised his head towards the phone with a ‘give-me-that-phone’ look on his face. Sonic turned it over to speaker and held it up in front of the human, refusing to relinquish the device. _He_ had to be the responsible one since Tom was out of commission. 

“Hi, Brad. I’m okay,” Tom said in a loud voice – only for his efforts to be undermined by another round of coughing.

“Tom,” the speakerphone dripped with disbelief. “I can hear you coughing.”

“So? Completely unrelated. I’ll live.”

“Obviously. Can I at least convince you to give me an injury list?”

“What injuries?” Tom asked, obviously ignoring two glaring green eyes in his direction. “I’m perfectly healthy.” Again, completely undermined by more coughing. Sonic rolled his eyes again while he resisted the urge to smile. His dad really should know better by now. Yet another sign that everything was going to be _okay_.

“Uh-huh. If this were flu season, I’d believe you. However, I’m hearing a certain noise lingering behind that coughing that is giving me reasonable doubt.”

“Figures,” Tom muttered. “That’s the only thing you took away from the academy, isn’t it?”

“Not the only thing,” Sonic heard a chuckle over the speaker. The sheer increase in volume that came next almost startled the phone out of his hand. “INJURIES, TOM, from WORST to BEST. And if you don’t, I’m going to have Sonic list them for me. _AGAIN_.”

“God, who _are_ you and what did you do to my friend, Brad? Not cool, acting like our old drill sergeant.” Tom said in an over-exaggerated whine while giving a wink towards his hedgehog. Sonic rolled his eyes and huffed even as his mouth turned upwards. Who knew his human could be _this_ annoying when injured? And that wasn’t nice of Brad, to be that loud. The phone would never be the same again. “Okay, okay. Ribs are fractured, possibly broken, I have a potentially punctured lung, a piece of wood in my left leg, and I’m cold and wet to boot.” The shiver at the end of his sentence was so loud that the hairs stood up from the back of Sonic’s neck. Maybe he should have grabbed a sleeping bag instead of a blanket.

“Huh.” Brad’s voice was back to normal. “That’s interesting. Sonic’s list wasn’t nearly as thorough as yours was.” Sonic felt his eyes go wide and his heart race again, only to calm back down when Tom caught his gaze and quick shook his head, complete with a short smile. Good, Tom wasn’t mad at him.

“Give my kid a break, Brad,” the human spoke protectively, easing any further worries the hedgehog may have had. “He’s had a pretty rough go of it. Anyway, there’s your list. Happy now?”

“Ask me that when I pick you up.”

“I can’t because you’re not here yet. C’mon man. What’s taking so long?” Tom whined again. Sonic would have been embarrassed if it wasn’t just him and his dad out here in the middle of nowhere. Brad better not spill though, otherwise he’d have one _very_ angry space hedgehog to deal with.

“Because I’m going to have Sonic use the ‘maps’ icon on your phone to give me your exact GPS coordinates. Sonic?”

“On it, Brad-my-man!” Sonic declared with a smirk. He saw Tom give him _that_ look and shake his head, but he was helpless before the all-powerful hedgehog. “Opening ‘maps’ right now. Finding the arrow – oh wait, there it is – making sure it says that we are where we say we are, oh, okay, there’s the river again, and…” he paused, sliding up and down inside the app to make sure he was about to read off the right information. “Latitude is 46.9450 with Longitude at negative 111.9636. Uh… does that sound right?” he scratched his head as he asked, glancing up at his human at the same time. “I mean, that’s a lot of decimal points. And how can our position have a positive _and_ a negative?”

“I mean, I have a couple ideas,” Tom coughed with a smile. Sonic made a face in response. Now was not the time for a dad joke. All dad jokes should be officially labeled off-limits in an emergency.

“Perfect, kid. You did great. And… congratulations, I found you. We’ll drive our UTV to your location, but we’ll probably have to walk the rest of the way. Even with leaving now, it’s going to be approximately two hours.”

“Two _hours_?” Sonic whined, his previous cheer gone. So much for things going better.

“I feel so special,” Tom quipped, though his voice sounded much less cheerful than it had before.

“We had a lot of calls tonight, Tom. A _lot_ of calls.”

“I figured. How many is a lot, though?” Silence greeted his response, the only sound a crackle across the speakerphone. Sonic felt his worry increase as he saw his human’s face, already creased with pain, fall further. Bringing his arm down, he shuffled closer to his human, keeping the phone screen facing upwards. His dad was injured and in pain. It didn’t make sense that he should be worrying about other people.

“That many, huh?” The sheriff blew out a breath, coughing lightly a couple times. “Geez! I’m so sorry, Brad.”

“This is already considered worse than that incident a couple years ago, Tom, and we’re not even past the 72-hour mark. Thank God that the holiday season wasn’t in full swing, or the casualty list would be longer.”

“God, Brad.” Again, Tom turned his head to one side and spit something out. Sonic caught a glimpse of red before it disappeared. “I was hoping everyone would get evacuated.”

“The ones we knew about? Most did. It’s the hikers and campers we _didn’t_ know about, plus a couple stubborn regulars.” Brad’s voice had taken on a different quality. Sonic would have called it sad, but it wasn’t the same – at least, not compared to what he was seeing right now with his human.

“How many?”

“There were seven that had been reported to us. Three have been found so far, and one was found that wasn’t reported.”

“Well, considering the odds…” Tom began, only to be interrupted by more coughing.

“I know, but none of us want to go on a body search later on. We’re still looking.”

“Can’t imagine why. Gets to be quite smelly. I’d help you out, you know, but –”

“Save it. Your butt is going to do what it does best – sit. In this case, it’s in a hospital bed.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” Tom snarked, but his face remained serious. “Remember, you’re in the wrong field. Plus, my kid already has that job.” Pride took hold of Sonic’s heart at those words. Not that he was hoping that that would be said, but he was glad that Tom obviously appreciated his efforts. And it didn’t hurt to remind Brad that he was now being outranked by an alien hedgehog. “Just take your time and get here safely.”

“Yes _sir_. Bye, Sonic.”

“Wait, aren’t you going to stay on the line?” Sonic asked, his worry coming back. What was he – what were _they_ – going to do for two hours?

“Can’t. I’m not dispatch, and given where I got to go to get to you guys, we’ll soon have a line filled with static. Near impossible to talk through that. I’ll see you soon enough anyways. Two hours isn’t that long, and it could end up being shorter. Don’t worry, kid. At least now I can hear how bad your dad is, and I’m getting him help. Can’t stop causing trouble, huh, Tom?”

“You just wish you were as cool as me,” Tom shot back. “I’m still the only one with a kid.”

“Adopted alien hedgehog-things don’t count. Sorry, Sonic.”

“Hey!” he interjected. “Don’t be sore because you weren’t cool enough to get me. You just wish there were more of me wandering around so you could join in on the fun.” A chuckle erupted through the speaker.

“If there are more of you, kid, Earth is screwed.”

“Please! If I wasn’t here, you guys wouldn’t even know how to function.”

“And on that note, I’m off to rescue you ungrateful jackasses.”

“See you in a bit, Brad,” Tom said before starting another round of coughing. “And… thanks, man.”

“Anytime, although between you and me, I’ll wait to receive it after I get the full diagnosis from the medic I’m bringing. Then I know exactly what you owe me for saving your life!”

“Uh-huh.” The injured human rolled his eyes as his coughing lessened yet again. “Remember, I’m a poor cop, so you can’t just pile medical bills on me.”

“Whatever bills you get won’t reach you until weeks later, so no complaining until then!” Another chuckle was heard over the brief pause. “We’ll be there in about two hours. See you soon. Sonic, you’re in charge.” The line went dead before the hedgehog could ask what that _meant_. It probably didn’t require yelling at his dad, although he would be more than happy to do that if the opportunity presented itself.

“So… what now?” Sonic asked.

“Well, until Brad gets here, there’s not much we can do.”

“There’s got to be something!” Sonic’s feet began to itch. ”I can’t just sit _still_!”

“We could tell stories.”

“I don’t know, that sounds kinda boring.” He couldn’t just relax until Brad got here and got Tom taken care of. The coughing wasn’t as bad as it had been moments earlier, but it was still ongoing, as was the shivering. A wave of cold air hit the back of his neck, and he realized that it had gotten colder since he had started the phone call, and a glance around told him it was getting darker too He quickly tapped the phone so the screen instantly relit, and was startled when a beam of light sliced the darkness through in front of him. He relaxed when he saw Tom’s face behind the beam, and was quick to stand just off to one side of the flashlight beam, now standing adjacent to his dad’s shoulder. The closeness was enough to keep his mind at ease while he reminded himself that he probably shouldn’t hug Dad again.

“Okay then, check my temperature.” The sheriff placed the flashlight in between his legs, the beam shining over the tops of his shoes and past them into the trees and the darkness beyond. He drew the blanket closer around his shoulders and shivered again.

“On it!” A zip to the backpack, a zip back, in it went and Sonic was tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for the device to beep. Once it did, it came out of his dad’s mouth and into his own hand. He squinted at the screen. “It’s… 99.5.”

“Degrees,” Tom supplied.

“Okay, _degrees_.” Sonic rubbed his forehead in confusion. “Come on, Dad. Now I’m restless _and_ confused. What was the point of that?”

“The point of that was to give you something to do. That and now I know what to tell Brad when he gets here.”

“Why?” Sonic asked. “It’ll probably change between then and now.”

“Because it’ll tell him if it’s risen or if it’s fallen. Right now, it tells me what to expect. My body temperature tends to run around 97.5 degrees. This is warmer than that which means I probably have an infection starting. It could continue to rise. But so far I’m feeling fine – barring being wet and cold –,” his human coughed into the back of his hand, “– and I’m not hallucinating or seeing things.”

“Okay then.” Sonic walked over and put the thermometer back in the backpack. Picking up the backpack, he walked back over to his human and brought the phone up to his face. The screen lit up, showing the time. Approximately ten minutes had passed since he ended the call with Brad, and the ETA was two hours. One hour and fifty minutes to go. He rolled his eyes and huffed, moving to sit down between Tom and the backpack.

“Ask a question.”

“I don’t have a question.”

“You always have a question, son. Ask.”

“Ugh,” Sonic groaned, his ears lying back against his head as he looked up towards his dad. “Do I have to?”

“Two hours will pass by a lot faster if you do.” Sonic hated wasting time. And yeah, he had questions. Trying to behave himself during the call with Brad had meant he ended up with a giant backlog of questions he had been meaning to ask. He thought carefully, figuring out which one he wanted to start with.

“Dad?”

“Yeah?”

“Why did you offer to help when Brad was talking about those missing people?”

“I always want to help.”

“But you’re injured.”

“I know. But it doesn’t mean I stop wanting to help others, especially when they’re missing or hurt or in trouble.”

“But you can’t do anything. You’re _injured_.”

“So? It’s part of being a cop, Sonic. I always want to help where I can.”

“Yeah, but you’re not just any cop. You’re the sheriff of _Green Hills_. But you’re supposed to be on vacation right now, but then you got injured, and yet you’re _still_ trying to help others? That’s like, hero rank, right there. Why?”

“Son, being a hero means _you_ try to do everything _you_ can for other people, even when you’re injured and have an overprotective son looking out for you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment!” Sonic puffed out his chest in appreciation. “Thank you!” His human let out a short laugh, cutting it off as soon as the coughing threatened to start up again. Once it subsided, Tom continued.

“”You’re never not sad about the destruction that happens. You’re never not sad about the people – lives – that are lost. You just know how to keep that contained until after you’ve done everything you can to fulfill your oath. Your promise.”

“Is Brad the same though? He sounded weird.”

“Yeah, yeah he’s the same.”

“But the way he sounded was so…” Sonic was at a loss for words.

“Restrained?” Unable to think of anything else that would be adequate enough to be used instead, Sonic just nodded. “He is, but that’s because he’s on the job. When you’re on the job, large and in charge, you have to lead everybody else through the mess. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel any less deeply about the ones he and his team have found, the ones who’ve died.”

“He shouldn’t have to. You can’t do anything when they’re dead.” He knew that from experience.

“But I don’t know that unless I try. And neither does he. People can experience the worst things possible and still make it out alive. After all, we did. We faced down a _flash flood_ and survived to tell the tale.” Sonic pondered that thought for a moment.

“True,” he finally admitted. “I don’t know that I could keep that same attitude though.”

“I think you can, Sonic. After all, you did protect Green Hills and defeat Robotnik, despite yourself and us being in danger. You bounced back from that robot bomb like it was nothing, and you tossed the other bombs around like toys. You ran down the side of the building after Maddie and me. You were able to pick yourself off the pavement and throw Robotnik into Mushroom Land. Hell, even this trip showed that you have a cool head on your shoulders and you did anything and everything you could to make sure we both got out okay. You have the same heart as Brad and I do, Sonic, and you’ll realize it someday.”

 _I guess I do_ , the hedgehog thought. _I have you and Maddie and Green Hills and I would do anything for any of you_. Resisting the urge to cling to his human (again – injuries), he instead stepped closer to lean back against the tree before lightly resting against Tom’s side. As he thought about what Tom had just told him, an idea struck him.

“You think…” he hesitated, “you think I could be a cop?”

“If you really wanted to be, Sonic, you could. I would support you if you came to that decision. But I really think you could be more than that. There’s a reason you came to this planet, beyond the instructions that Longclaw gave you. Maybe she didn’t know the extent of your powers when she sent you off, but she knew enough to keep you safe and hidden until you were old enough to start to piece things together. When that will happen, I don’t know, and I could be wrong. I wouldn’t worry about potential career choices right now, though. You have time to figure all that out later.”

“I know. I know.” He silently hoped that he wouldn’t have to just yet, especially not now. He had to make sure his dad was taken care of.

“Just focus on enjoying yourself and making the most out of life right now.” Sonic snorted.

“Says the guy who _had_ to go ruin our first camping trip,” he said, looking sideways up at his human. He saw the smile on his human’s face grow, and heard a chuckle escape. He didn’t resist the smirk that was spreading on his own face.

“You know,” Tom smirked down at him, “when we get out of this, I’m going to remember all the times you were being snarky, and for every time you mouthed off you’re getting a job you have to complete for me.” Ooh. Sonic’s ears perked upwards. Challenge _accepted_.

“Does that mean I get to fill in for you as the sheriff?” he asked with a smirk of his own. He saw his human’s face freeze, and eyes widen just a fraction. Point _him_.

“That’s not the kind of job I meant, Sonic.”

“I just hear a yes,” Sonic said, grin growing. Tom sighed and shook his head.

“No, it’s not. I can still do my _job_ ; it’ll just mean more sitting.”

“Which means you’ll be stuck at the office.” Sonic stepped out a bit – the better to gesture! (And to not accidentally hit his dad.) “You can’t go out, you can’t drive, you can’t traffic stop people… All you can do is sit and watch. What you need is someone who can fill in for you – who doesn’t _actually think_ you’re in Barbados with Rihanna. Besides, who better to keep an eye on Wade than _moi_?” he finished, gesturing towards himself. Tom laughed and pointed a thumb towards himself, briefly releasing the corner of the blanket.

“ _I_ can keep an eye on Wade well enough, kid.” He quickly rewrapped himself in the blanket, suppressing another shiver. Sonic likewise ignored it. “Besides, this will be a good experience for him, filling in for me. He’ll be able to prove himself.”

“True,” Sonic snickered. “He could prove he’s even ditsier than you thought.” Tom coughed.

“And we’ll pretend I never said that. But, you do have a point.” Sonic’s smirk grew. “I could appoint you to help him.”

“ME??!!” Sonic was shocked.

“Why not?” Tom chuckled. “You wanted to take my job.”

“Well, yeah, but you’re numero uno! Why would I fill in for anything lower?” he asked, wrinkling his nose. “Especially when it means working under _Wade_?” His human continued laughing.

“Well, first of all, because _you_ offered, Sonic.” The hedgehog scoffed. “Second, because Wade needs the experience of working with someone else besides me. And last, because you’re right.” Despite himself, Sonic perked up at those words. “We will need someone else to help us out while I recover, and I can’t think of a good reason why that person can’t be you. With school being done for the year, and even with you being in Little League, I think it’ll be a good experience for you.”

“So, I’d be a cop, then?” he asked, grin returning. “Badge _and_ arrest powers _and_ everything else?”

“Badge? Yes. Arrest powers? No. But you’d be able to write tickets and unlock vehicles and assist Donald, Daisy, and Daffy across the crosswalk, among other things.” Eh. Who needed arrest powers? The fact that he got a badge was cool enough. And working under Wade wouldn’t be so bad. He liked memes and internet jokes and was relaxed like Tom. It just so happened that the officer could use more coffee in the morning, or maybe a brain pill or two, like the ones they prescribed on TV. Beyond all that, he just liked helping people and animals, and this would give him a chance to do all of that, for his hometown. He couldn’t let his dad see his excitement though.

“Wwwwweeeeeeeeeelllllll,” the hedgehog drew out every single letter of the word that was possible, facing away from his human, “it seems I have no choice but to accept your generous offer.”

“I figured.” He felt a warm hand descend on his shoulder, and he turned around to face the owner. “Welcome to the Green Hills sheriff’s department, Sonic.”

“Thanks.” He wrinkled his nose again as he stepped back towards his father’s side. “Tell me again, Dad, why did I take this job?”

“Oh come on, son,” Tom coughed with a smile, “thirty more years of this, you get a tiny pension and a cheap gold watch.”

“Cool.” _Speaking of time_ … He brought out the phone again and lit it up.

“How much time has passed since you called?” Tom coughed again.

“It’s been…” Sonic quick checked the call log, “… an hour. Even.”

“Cool. Just one more to go.” Sonic let out a long, drawn-out groan and covered his face.

“Now come on, Sonic,” Tom chuckled again, covering his mouth as it renewed the coughing, “we can’t be hearing overdramatic groaning from our newest recruit so soon. I was waiting to let Wade do the honors.”

“Come on, Dad,” Sonic whined. “That’s too mean, even for you! Cruel and unusual punishment is kinder than that. Overworking your newest recruit!” He uncovered his face in time to see his human wink at him. He retained his pouty face, laying his ears back against his head.

“I think you’d be able to handle it,” his dad continued to laugh.

“Of course he will!” Sonic perked up immediately and started looking around for the source of the voice. “Don’t you know? All kids are alike – all energy and enthusiasm, and no patience.”

“BRAD???!!!” Sonic shouted and waved his arms, narrowly avoiding hitting his dad in the head. “OVER HERE!!!!”

“Easy, kid.” A beam of light pierced through the tree cover to join the flashlight’s beam, and out stepped one very tired and grumpy park ranger. At least, he sounded like it. “Don’t run over me and my team, okay?” His dark shadow appeared next to Tom, and Sonic restrained himself from jumping in joy. Rescue was here! “In fact, how about you go pick up that flashlight from Tom’s legs and go stand across from him? Point that light up into the sky so you don’t blind anyone, okay?”

“Okay!” One gigantic, speedy leap later, he was directly across from the tree. As he held the flashlight beam upwards, he saw the other beam of light flicker off, and Brad clip his flashlight onto his belt. He saw Brad kneel down and reach for the backpack as another person joined him, kneeling down on Tom’s other side. “Oh, here you go!” Zipping back towards the backpack, he found and pulled out the thermometer and handed it to Brad.

“Thanks, Sonic,” he heard as he zipped back to his previous position. He saw the other person open his mouth before Brad looked at him, similar to how Tom would prior to a scolding. The guy’s mouth shut tight. “Did you take his temperature before?”

“Yeah, after you hung up,” Sonic said, watching as Brad stuck it back into Tom’s mouth. “It was 99.5 degrees.”

“Okay, let’s see what it reads this time around.” The thermometer beeped, and Brad took it out, looking at it briefly before tossing it back towards the backpack. “Huh. Interesting.” Sonic again zoomed over to catch it, shove it deep into the backpack, and hoist the bag onto his back before yet again returning to his spot.

“What did it say, Brad?” he asked, anxiety creeping into his voice.

“100.4 degrees. Your dad here is developing a fever, and probably an infection to boot.”

“Well, you should have made it here sooner,” Sonic snarked, before a thought occurred to him. “Wait, why are you here now? I thought you said it was going to be two hours.”

“I _did_ say that.” Brad conceded, leaning Tom forward and began to remove the blanket, the human on the other side copying his actions. “I also may or may not have lied about the time.”

“What?!” Sonic exclaimed. “That’s _mean_! Why would you do that?” he half-asked, half-whined.

“Kid, I had to round up a medical team as well as enough rangers to drive-slash-assist with this pickup. I didn’t know who I’d be able to grab or what vehicles were available. You’re lucky I got here _this_ fast.”

“Easy, Brad,” Tom spoke, coughing as he did so. Brad leaned him back up against the tree and took the rest of the blanket – now sopping wet – from the other human. “We’re both glad you’re here early.” He continued coughing after he finished speaking, prompting the other human to take out something long and stringy and press it against his chest, taking the other two connected wires and putting them into his ears.

“I know, Tom.” Still, the ranger’s voice eased from grouchy worry to a more protective tone, and he finally spared a glance towards Sonic. “I didn’t mean to mislead you, Sonic.” _I’m sorry_. He held the blanket out towards the hedgehog.

“I know,” Sonic acknowledged. _Me too_. “I’m really glad you made it here before two _actual_ hours passed. This is much better.” He zoomed forward to grab the blanket and back again to his previous spot. He stuffed it into the backpack, hoping that it wouldn’t soak into the bag too much as he had to carry it. The pack sat on the ground in between his feet as he stood, his hands keeping the beam of the flashlight skyward.

“Me too, kid.” He leaned towards the other human and started talking, too low for Sonic to catch. He thought about darting around the two of them before deciding against it. Given how Brad was at the moment, running around him and peppering him with questions didn’t sound like the smartest option. Biting his lip, he tried to remain still even as Brad and the other human continued talking. He studied his human’s face, but despite having ceased coughing Tom didn’t look any different than he had earlier. Whether that was good or bad he’d soon find out.

“Hey, Tom,” Brad began, hands on his knees as he remained crouched on the ground, “how’s it going?”

“Fine until you asked that question,” Tom responded, before another coughing fit took hold.

“Can you stand?”

“I think so. But you guys are going to have to help me with that.” Brad gave a sharp laugh.

“That’s kind of obvious. What about walking?”

“See my answer to the first question,” Tom continued to cough.

“Okay then. Mike here is going to support your left side, and I’m going to grab your right.” As he spoke, the other human lifted Tom’s arm over his shoulder, and leaned in until his shoulder was under Tom’s armpit, arm snaking behind his back and knees hovering over Tom’s thigh. “On the count of three, we’re going to lift you up until it’s only your feet touching the ground. If you can, bend your knees and plant your feet on the ground.” Tom ceased coughing and began to move each leg gingerly, but only hissed in pain when he lifted his right leg. Sonic could see his jaw set as his right foot settled into the dirt. “Okay, good. As we lift you up, push against the ground with your feet to help us lift you. We’ll go from here, okay?”

“Okay.” Brad now moved in to copy the other guy’s position.

“Okay, on the count of three. Ready, Mike?” The other human nodded. “Okay, one… two… THREE!” Brad and other-guy-Mike grunted and Tom coughed, and with painstaking slowness they rose – feet were planted from the toe to the heel (Tom’s feet being the exception), knees gradually unbent and legs and backs straightened until all three were standing, one arm from each man wrapping around Tom’s back for support. Well, two for sure were standing. With how Tom’s arms were draped over the shoulders of the two men and only his toes were making contact with the ground, Sonic wouldn’t call that _standing_. His coughs were decreasing once again as he began to shiver from the increasingly frigid air. Sonic stepped closer to his human, careful that the beam from the flashlight he held didn’t fully illuminate his face.

“Oh man!” Brad gasped out, shifting forward slightly. “What have you been eating? Just donuts?” Tom barked out a laugh, which turned into a wheeze. This time, however, no coughing fit emerged.

“You should be grateful, man. I’m helping you fit your workout in.” The other-guy-Mike laughed in response.

“Cops. No respect at all.”

“Because every time there’s an accident, _we_ get sent out first,” was Tom’s response.

“As much as I love this _friendly_ exchange,” Brad said (rolling his eyes, Sonic guessed), “we need to get moving. Mike, how is your end?”

“Heavy,” the other human grunted, “but I’ll live.”

“Okay. Tom, can you put any weight on your feet?”

“My left one. The right one not so much.”

“Okay. Do what you can with your left one. Sonic, I’m going to have you in front of me. Shine your flashlight through the trees so we can see. I left enough of a trail to follow, but light helps. Keep your flashlight focused and move when I tell you to. The vehicle is parked approximately 300 yards from here, so it will be a bit of a hike to get there, but nothing too crazy. Once we get there, it’ll be smooth sailing. Any questions?”

“Nope!” Spinning his heels, Sonic zoomed out in front of Brad and pointed his flashlight out towards the dense trees. “Whenever you’re ready, Park Ranger Man!”

“Who is this kid?” he heard the other human mutter. He turned around to face him, careful to point the light beam at the ground instead of at his face.

“My name is Sonic. What is your name, oh other human?”

"Mike."

"Nice to meet you, other-human-Mike!" He thought he saw Mike look towards Brad.

“Do I even try to correct him?”

“Don’t,” Brad said with a sigh. “He’s Tom’s kid.” Tom just wheezed out another laugh. “Just get moving. _Go_ , Sonic.” Sonic performed a little bow, careful to keep the light extended out while not blinding their rescuers.

“Of course!” Turning back around, he pointed the beam of light back towards the trees and began to walk forward, ears open for any directions Brad was about to give him and careful to keep his speed under control. It had been one crazy day, but now they were finally on their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND IT'S UP!!!! Finally!!! Thank you for your support and I'm so sorry I took so long. I got the job I wanted for a long time over a month ago, and I've been in intensive training since then. This story is on track to get finished, and an ending is coming!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Since Thanksgiving is around the corner, here's what I'm thankful for in 2020:  
> \- World is still spinning.  
> \- God is still here (how much he is involved versus sitting on his butt and laughing at us is anyone's guess).  
> \- Sonic came out!!!!!!  
> \- Deer hunting time! (don't tell Sonic)
> 
> Don't forget to read and review!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soundtrack pieces for your enjoyment:  
> \- Evacuating London (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe)  
> \- From Western Woods to Beaversdam (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe)

Adjusting the light in his hands, Sonic’s ears twitched at the quiet that surrounded their group – save for Tom’s wheezing. Everything was okay now, so why weren’t they talking? It couldn’t be a problem to walk and talk at the same time. Well, for everyone whose name didn’t begin with ‘T’. Silence was overrated, and since he knew that, it was his responsibility to start things off. As he aimed the flashlight forward towards the clustered trees, his mind whirled at 1000 miles an hour. Now was the _perfect_ time to ask some questions and get some answers from the third best friend.

“So, let me get this straight,” Sonic began.

“Aim the light a little more to the left, Sonic,” Brad interrupted. Sonic readjusted accordingly, but kept talking.

“You’ve known Tom for whatever number of years –”

“A _little_ more to the left, kid. And it’s been almost ten now.”

“– you know Maddie and Ozzie and everybody back at Green Hills –”

“Pretty much, kid. Okay, now shift it to the right.”

“– you finally met me, the most amazing thing to happen to the guy in years –”

“That is debatable, kid. Wait, hold the light! See that, that white reflection? Off of that dark vehicle? That’s our ride!”

“– and you’re so busy that you don’t drop by, you don’t call, you don’t write –” Sonic held up a hand and ticked each finger up as he began his list.

“Uh-oh,” Tom barked out a laugh. “Sorry, Brad, you’re on your own.”

“Why me?” Brad whined.

“Because I already suffered through his questioning. He obviously wants to know more about you, and why you haven’t popped up before now.”

“You tell him.”

“I would, but I’m not supposed to talk, remember?” Tom coughed to punctuate his point. Sonic looked back briefly, and stopped for a moment to let the three men get closer to him, continuing on once he got a nod from Brad. He’d have to be more careful about not getting too far ahead of the group.

“You’re not _supposed_ to be talking,” Mike’s voice cut in, flat and disapproving. “Brad, why are you letting the kid back talk you like this?”

“It’s…” Brad began, his voice trailing off.

“It’s Sonic.” Tom chorused with Brad over Mike’s groan. The injured man began another coughing spree.

“Give me the twelve-year-old from earlier. At least she was _quiet_.” Sonic’s ears perked. He had no idea there were other kids around. Maybe he could meet them?

“She was traumatized. Fortunately her trauma came in the form of silence,” Brad responded dryly.

“Way easier to handle than this one. Just look at him. It’s like nothing sticks with him. To top it off, he looks like a fuzzball. Not like any _normal_ kid I’ve ever seen.”

“Uh, excuse me!” Sonic turned his head around to glare at Mike. They hadn’t even reached the vehicle yet and he was getting flak! “I’ll have you know that these aren’t _fuzzballs_. These are _obviously_ quills. Hedgehog quills to be precise.”

“Kid, I know what a hedgehog is. You _aren’t_ one.” _Now_ it was completely quiet. He thought he heard Tom whisper, “Sonic, don’t,” but he had to respond to that. The gauntlet had been set.

“Oh yeah? And how would you know?” He began to turn around.

“If you’re going to talk, Sonic, at least keep the flashlight beam focused straight ahead.” Brad interjected with a sigh. Glancing back towards the trees, Sonic refocused the wavering beam of light back towards the shiny object, now looking less like a black, shiny blob and more like a black, shiny utility vehicle. “Good. Keep walking. And Mike, could you wait, man? We get to the UTV first, and _then_ you can rag on the kid.”

“I’ve seen hedgehogs, Brad.” Apparently Mike’s hearing was malfunctioning. “They ain’t blue.”

“Well then, you’ve met your first alien hedgehog that’s blue. I know, your mind is _blown away_ by my awesomeness. You’re welcome.”

“Sonic, chill,” Tom cut in before hacking again.

“But I had to straighten him out!” Sonic protested, turning around to look at his human. “Dude thinks I’m not a hedgehog, _and_ he insulted my quills!” Dipping the light beam of the flashlight at the last minute to avoid blinding the three men, he watched as the two on the outside supported the one in the middle, both sets of eyeballs glued to that one’s every heave. So what if it looked bad? Try finding him almost dead. _This_ was an improvement.

“I know you did.” Tom straightened just enough to meet Sonic’s eyes, hacking to spit off to one side. He sounded more hoarse than he had before. “And you made your point. Now let’s stick to _nicer_ questions. These guys are our ride, after all.”

“Okay.” That didn’t mean he _couldn’t_ shift the target of his questioning.

“Remember, Sonic –” Brad began to interject.

“I know, I know,” Sonic protested, cutting him off. “Away from you and towards the shiny vehicle that-a-way.” He swung the flashlight’s beam accordingly, and brought it again to bear on the dark vehicle. At least it looked closer than it had before.

“So, Mike, what do _you_ do?” He began his attack, trying his hardest to not be snarky or overwhelm the guy with his limitless _hedgehog_ energy.

“I’m EMS, part of the group that’s stationed at base 24/7.” Based off of the tone he was hearing, Mike was not happy. Too bad. “Basically I went through similar training with Brad, but I chose to specialize in field medicine.”

“That’s cool,” he said.

“Great. Glad you approve.” If there was a more apathetic way to say that, Mike had found it.

“How do you survive?”

“What?”

“Since your job isn’t as cool as Tom’s or Brad’s, how do you deal with that?” A solid sigh was heard, similar to the kind of sigh that Tom would unleash when he was trying his patience. Usually that came much, much later, or when he was in the middle of doing something, and normally he wasn’t trying to deliver the best burn experience possible. That’s _for the hedgehog comment_.

“Tom, how do you survive this?” Mike’s patience had nothing on Tom’s patience.

“Just remember that he’s a kid.” Was it just him, or did Tom sound quieter than before? At least his coughing didn’t last for five minutes this time around.

“Most kids aren’t this _annoying_.”

“You got one of your own,” Brad cut in. “Why don’t you deal with Sonic like how you deal with your kid?”

“My kid isn’t this obnoxious or chatty.”

“Remind me again – how are you married?” Sonic heard Brad ask. He almost choked with laughter, trying to remain silent. Brad was the _best_.

“You forgetting I’m helping you with your buddy here?”

“Of which I am both humbled and appreciative. However, I’m getting ideas for your next training session.”

“Come on, guys,” Tom butted in. “Drop it.” Everyone ignored him.

“Training session?” Sonic asked curiously.

“Yeah, we have annual training we have to attend every year. Some of which we get to choose, and the rest we get assigned to us.”

“Aren’t you guys in different departments?” Sonic asked, successfully ignoring the urge to look back. He could see the front and side of the UTV now, fingers itching with the urge to just zoom up to the vehicle and open the door.

“We are, kid, but, long story short – our departments are combined in a certain way where I have seniority over him. That has its perks – like me assigning him training.”

“Assign me anything you want, Brad. I can guarantee we don’t have training that deals with handling kids.”

“Yet.”

“Don’t you dare.”

“I’ve got a couple ideas, Mike.” Another groan from the medic.

“Your ideas are about as well thought out as our midnight rescue.”

“But it’s not midnight.”

“I’m not talking about _this_ rescue.”

“Good. Otherwise I was thinking you’re jinxing us.”

“You don’t need _my_ help for that.” Sonic paused, waving his flashlight back and forth. Brad had called it a UTV, but it looked more like a shortened truck than anything else. Entirely black from the frame to the rims, it had a protective guard mounted in front of the grill. Glancing in the other direction, he noted a shortened passenger side door and an open tailgate with what appeared to be a silver box bolted down inside and a dark red bag strapped over the top of it.

“Heyyheyyhhheeeeeyyyy, we made it to the vehicle,” he said, keeping his flashlight beam focused on the driver’s side door handle while looking back at the three men. “Did you lock it, Mike?”

“Nope. No point. There’s no one other than us all the way out here.”

“Cool.” He reached forward for the door handle.

“Open the other one kid, the back one.”

“But it looks so tiny.” The door was barely larger than his frame. How was Tom going to fit through _that_?

“Trust me. It’s not as tiny as you think. Plus, the back is modified to be similar to a stretcher – easier to adjust and move in tight spaces. He can stay in the most comfortable position for him while we get him to the closest hospital.”

“Okay.” He opened the door, looking inside dubiously. It was dark, but it still didn’t look any bigger. “It’s open.”

“Good. Grab the red bag from the back, would you? Brad, help me get him over.”

“What about getting him to base?” he heard Brad offer as he zoomed to the back. He stood in front of the silver box and looked at the red bag that sat on top.

“Chopper’s still out for that couple stranded further downstream. It’s going to be faster for us to drive him straight to the hospital.” The bag appeared to be strapped down by bungee cords. Too easy!

“True. But we need lights and siren.”

“Both available as external attachments in back.” As soon as the last strap came off, Sonic rushed the bag over to the medic. He saw that both men had lain Tom down across the back seat. He offered the bag to the medic. “Thanks, Sonic. Would you grab the two attachments I’m talking about? They’re at the top of the box, and no, it’s not locked either.”

“Okay.” He zipped to the back.

“Brad, strap Tom down, would you?” That sounded weird, but okay. Mike was the medic. “Anyway, the lights have a magnetic attachment, and the siren runs off a battery.” Sonic began to open the lid of the metal box.

“But we should grab a faster vehicle,” he heard Brad’s voice echo inside the back of the vehicle. He could also hear Tom rasping and coughing in back. It sounded… weird. He couldn’t describe what made it weird, but something inside him just didn’t like the different sound. His ears twitched in irritation. At least the coughing spells were staying short.

“I’d rather just take this. We can cut across the land a lot faster, saving us time in the long run. Besides, between his injuries and the way he’s been coughing he needed to be admitted hours ago.” As Sonic opened the lid, he saw two boxes sitting, perched on the closest shelf. Dimly could he tell the other shelves had tools, but that didn’t peak his interest. He took both boxes and zoomed back over to Mike.

“I got the boxes,” he said, holding them out towards the human, who was currently rummaging around in the red bag.

“What?” Mike looked up briefly and nodded in approval. “Good. Take them out of the boxes. Stick both on top of the vehicle. The magnetic sides will be obvious.”

“Okay.” Sonic zipped away in a blue blur.

“And DON’T TURN THEM ON YET!” he heard Mike yell at him.

“Touchy, touchy,” he muttered, kneeling on the top of the vehicle. 

“Where’re you planning on admitting him?” he heard Brad ask, feeling the vehicle shift as the man got out and shake with the door slamming shut. He ripped open both boxes and tossed them backwards, more focused on the items within than their cardboard cases. One was cylindrical in shape, see-through plastic containing a bulb of sorts at the top and the bottom being completely black. That one was a no brainer.

“Saint Peter’s. It’s the closest to the park, and the highway will be clear thanks to the guard.” Sonic took a look at the other item. It was a black box, harder to tell right off the bat which side was magnetic, but as he flipped it over and over the third time around he felt a familiar pull. Letting the opposites attract, he let the box connect to the top of the UTV with a satisfying ring and jumped off the top of the vehicle. 

“How about we grab his truck quick? We switch him over to it and use it instead. We have to go around the lake anyways.” The boy found both boxes he had carelessly tossed earlier and this time tossed them into the tailgate. That way he couldn’t be accused of littering.

“Brad, do you even know how fast this thing goes?”

“Not nearly as fast as me!” the hedgehog bragged, zipping over to stand in front of Mike, screeching to a halt to avoid tripping over the items Mike was placing on the ground in front of him. “So who cares?” Both men ignored him.

“Uh… 65? I know Tom’s truck can reach 120,” Brad said as he came back around the vehicle, standing behind the medic. They both heard Mike snort.

“This is that quote-new-unquote Polaris we got approved for. Its official top speed is 168. I got it to about 185 on one of its first runs.” There was no shortage of pride in Mike’s voice as he said that. Sonic respected that even as he stared curiously at the items laid out between him and Mike. He recognized the gauze, those looked like bandages, and there was the disinfectant spray and those looked like pills.

“Never mind then. We’ll grab Tom’s truck on the way back.” There was the defib machine (looked like the one Tom carried in his squad), a container of clear liquid, and an empty round plastic thing.

“Thought so.” Mike reached into his pocket and withdrew a black plastic fob with a few keys attached. “Here.” Sonic saw him toss the keys to Brad. “Start the vehicle. Make sure all the lights are on and the heat is up. You’re driving.” Sonic looked back again at the items carefully. Something looked weird.

“Sweet! Let me know if I drive too fast for you.” Sonic was momentarily distracted by Brad opening the door and popping in. A split second later and he heard the vehicle start. It sounded _way_ nicer than Tom’s truck.

“Doubt you could even make top speed,” Mike was heard to mutter. “But I guess it’s the thought that counts.” Sonic spotted it finally, lying between the gauze and the clear, empty container.

“What’s a needle doing out?” he asked. He saw Mike pause before looking up at him, and he heard the vehicle creak as Brad got out of the driver’s seat.

“Obviously it’s to treat Tom,” Mike told him, face completely serious.

“Well duh!” Sonic scoffed, gesturing wide. “I’m not _stupid_. It’s just weird. Why would you ever use a needle here?” It was too long to be a sewing needle, and it looked solid, almost like a metal pen. Sure, it had a tip to it, but there was no hole in the opposite end, just a bunch of plastic. And while Mike had never struck him as a chatty type he was clamming up too quickly compared to being his regular, cranky self from before.

“Sonic,” he heard Brad call his name, but he refused to look up. Something just didn’t seem _right_. “Sonic, come here. I’ll have you sit up front by me.” He refused to move.

“Sonic, go by Brad.” Mike’s voice had always sounded flat to Sonic. The way he said those words, however, he could tell the edge of irritation from before was no longer there. And the look he was being shot was one of pity, one he was used to getting but still never sat quite right with him.

“What are you going to do to Dad?” he asked. All sorts of ideas began to rush through his head, bringing back the fear and panic he had thought he had put away earlier.

“It’s all part of treating him, Sonic –” Mike began.

“I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO DO TO HIM!” Sonic exploded. He saw Mike’s eyes widen, and wondered briefly why – until he felt a familiar electrical surge explode throughout his body. Crap. Behind Mike was the open passenger door, and against that he noticed a blue glow begin to grow. He did his best to bottle it up inside, simultaneously wondering why he had to lose it again and yet why was Mike refusing to say exactly what he was going to do.

“Uh, Brad?” he saw Mike call out. His voice sounded similar to before, this time with a note of nervousness attached. “Little help here?” He continued to fight for control as he observed the blue glow on the door dim but not die down completely. Meanwhile, the UTV continued to hum, a good sign that he still had control – so far.

“Hey, Sonic?” He looked up further and saw Brad stand off to the side of Mike, palms outstretched. “Calm down, okay? Everything’s going to be fine.”

“It’s not when you both get all weird and nondescriptive!” Sonic exclaimed. “Why can’t you just tell me what’s going to happen? And tell me about the needle!”

“It’s a decompression needle, Sonic,” Mike replied. “It’s going to help Tom with his breathing.”

“How?” Sonic demanded. “You’re going to have him wrap his lips around it to breathe?”

“Well, that’s a new one,” Brad muttered.

“Needles have one purpose: to get stuck in something,” Sonic continued. “So where are you going to stick it?” A weak laugh emanated from inside the back seat area.

“Through my lung, Sonic,” Tom’s words floated out, almost too faint for the boy to hear. “It’s going to go through my lung.”

“Dammit!” Mike cursed. “Sorry, Tom. I didn’t want you to know.”

“It’s not going to make it hurt any less, Mike. And yeah, Sonic needs to know about stuff like that.”

“He’s smart, I’ll give him that. But normally I try to avoid scaring kids.”

“He’s no ordinary kid. And it’s better to tell him now than to try to hide it from him. He’s the reason the power got knocked out of all of the US that one night, after all.” His words were laced with humor and as he started coughing again Sonic saw his electric blue reflection vanish. He silently breathed a sigh of relief.

“I kinda gathered he had a little somethin’ simmering,” Mike said, never taking his eyes off of Sonic. _Ha_ , Sonic thought fiercely. _Dad sides with_ me _. Sucks for you_. “Will I be okay to go through with it, though?” _No_.

“Yeah. Sonic, come over by me. On the opposite side so Mike can stay where he is.”

“But Dad,” Sonic said, never taking his eyes off of Mike, “he’s going to stick you.”

“Better him than that crazy guy’s drone. I know _he_ at least cleans his instruments.” Sonic smiled a little at the inside joke. He took a couple steps back, watching Mike remain frozen in his kneeling position, and then zipped around to the other side.

“Tom, what kind of trouble have you been getting yourself into?” Brad was heard to complain. The sheriff laughed but didn’t answer. Sonic grabbed the handle and opened the other back door. He saw a mop of damp brown hair and the head it was attached to shift on the back seat – shift, but not move. He grabbed onto the door with one hand and grabbed at a handle jutting out from the opposite direction and pulled himself up onto the riding board of the vehicle. He didn’t understand why there was a handle against the back wall, just above the top of the back seat, but it made it easier for him to get a better vantage point. He looked down and wished he hadn’t. Tom’s face was whiter than usual, and his breathing was lighter than it had been moments ago.

“Hey, Sonic,” he wheezed, cracking open his eyes. “Glad to see you could make it.” Eyes shut after he finished speaking, and he began to cough again. Again, it was short, brief. That had to be a good sign, right?

“Well, duh. You _told_ me to,” he said, rolling his eyes, trying to hide his worry.

“And that’s the way it should stay, especially for what I’m about to say.”

“If you’re going to tell me I should leave –” Sonic began, eyes narrowing.

“Actually I was going to tell you to sit in the seat in front of me. You’ll be out of Mike’s way but that way you’re still here and I still have you with me.”

“Good,” Sonic interjected quickly, relaxing slightly.

“Next thing I am going to ask you to do is to focus on a spot in front of you. It doesn’t matter what it is, could be the dash, a tree, a rock. I just want you to look at something that isn’t me. It’s going to be bad enough that you’ll hear me groan.”

“But I already heard you _do_ all that,” Sonic said, brow creasing in confusion. “When we were in the river, remember?” What was the big deal? It already happened. He had seen his dad get hurt too. So what if he witnessed him getting hurt again?

“Yeah, I know. I don’t want you to have to watch me go through more pain if you don’t have to. That’s why I want you looking somewhere, anywhere else that isn’t me.” _That_ made sense. As much as Sonic secretly didn’t want to witness his dad go through any more pain, he also didn’t want to be asked to leave. He needed to be present, even if it meant hearing the pained groans/screams of his guardian one more time. At least Tom wasn’t trying to keep him away.

“How bad will the needle hurt?” he asked, changing the subject.

“I don’t know, Sonic. It’s the first time I’m going to be stuck with one.”

“Mike doesn’t have to stick you with it!” Sonic said, perking up with an idea. “I could grab the needle and keep it away from him.”

“Sonic, if Mike has the needle out already, he has it out for a reason. He’s a _medic_. He knows his tools, and he know what he needs when he needs it. He wouldn’t have brought it out if he didn’t think he was going to need it. And you know it’s going to help me breathe.”

“Yeah, but it’s going to be stuck _in_ you,” Sonic protested. _I don’t want to see OR hear you in any more pain._ “You shouldn’t have to be in more pain.” _The pain should’ve stopped when Mike and Brad found us_.

“Yeah, and normally I’d agree with that. But in this case the pain is unavoidable. If it means I can breathe easier, I will take it.”

“Sonic.” The hedgehog whipped his head around to stare at Mike, hands full of the items he had pulled out of the red bag – including the needle. “Like your dad said, I’m the medic. I’ve gone through training on how to deal with a lot of situations like this. This is something I hoped I’d never have to do, but I’ve always prepared for it.” He took a deep breath, exhaled, and then continued. “Tom’s lung is partially if not fully collapsed. You should be hearing a difference in how he breathes now compared to earlier, if you hadn’t noticed it already. His breathing has gotten lighter, he’s not coughing as much as he did before, and I’ve been seeing signs his blood pressure is dropping. Those are all very bad things. If I don’t stick this needle in him, his inability to get enough oxygen could cause permanent damage to his lungs and other vital organs.”

“But we’re close enough to the hospital!” Sonic exclaimed. “You said it yourself! Why not just start driving?”

“The closest hospital I mentioned is still over an hour away, Sonic.” The hedgehog felt his heart stop. An _hour_? That was _closest_? Sure he had super speed – but without the strength to hold his dad up for a run and a lack of knowledge of the area he couldn’t offer up a good alternative. “I’m not confident enough given his current state that he’ll make it without _this_ ,” he lifted up the hand containing the needle, “being inserted.”

“There isn’t anything else you could do?” Sonic asked, silently pleading for another answer to come out of Mike’s mouth. But the medic just shook his head.

“I’m sorry, kid.” Sonic looked down for a moment, nodded, and turned back to his parent. He had an idea.

“I’m tiny enough,” he began. Tom raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. “If I curl up in between the front and back seat area here, I could hang onto your hand when he... he sti… sticks you.” This was it. This was really going to happen.

“Sonic…” Tom’s voice was at a whisper.

“I won’t watch,” Sonic interrupted, shaking his head while steadying his voice, “but I can hold onto your hand so you have something to squeeze when you… you get s-stuck.” Tom let out a soft chuckle, so soft Sonic almost missed it.

“Think you’re up to it? I might break your hand.”

“Ha!” Sonic scoffed. “I’m an alien hedgehog who faced down a bunch of drones, killer machines, ticking time bombs, and an insane doctor AND lived to tell the tale. Nothing broken. I hardly think that your sad little human hand is up to doing anything worse.” Tom nodded. Wordlessly, his arm began to rise, trembling from the cold, exhaustion, or lack of oxygen – which it was, Sonic didn’t know. He just squeezed himself in between the seats (tighter than it looked, but he wouldn’t say anything) and grabbed his dad’s hand in both of his, first clasping it with one hand and then overlapping both with the other. He lowered himself into a seated position on the floor, easing the human limb down with him as he did, and looked up at Mike.

“Who am I to argue with a hedgehog?” Mike asked, rolling eyes. “Just keep a tight grip on him, kid.”

“Can I continue to sit here in back with Dad after you’re done?” Sonic asked. After a short pause, Mike began to nod.

“Yeah. I’ll switch the seat around so you can do that. I’ll still have to monitor him though the whole time, so I’ll be back here too.” Sonic looked up at his dad’s face, sweaty, pale, and obviously in pain. He hesitated for a moment, then he nodded.

“Okay,” he said quietly. Ignoring the squeezing sensation on both sides, the hedgehog curled forward around the hand and forearm, hands still clasped around the solitary human hand but pulling it inwards to hug it against his chest. He stopped only once he heard Tom grunt in pain, and he readjusted his hold accordingly. He still didn’t look up, and he heard Mike sigh in obvious relief.

“Brad!” he heard the medic say. “Come here and hold his legs down. I need you to help me keep him as still as you can. I’m going to keep his head still here and insert the needle.” Sonic clenched his jaw and hugged the arm tighter as the hand began to squeeze his own.

“We do this and then we get out of here,” he heard Mike continue. “God! Stop tensing your muscles, Tom!”

“I can’t help it,” Tom’s voice may have been calm, but his wheezing was getting louder to the point it coated his words with an odd desperation. It sounded so unnatural coming from him. “It’s a natural reaction to not being able to move. And I know what’s coming. I remember the presentation.”

“Shut up or you’ll psych me out of doing this,” Mike ordered. Sonic secretly wished he would. “And that would be bad for the both of us.”

“Sorry, Tom,” he heard Brad say.

“Sorry, Tom,” he heard Mike say.

“I know. Do it.” Sonic stayed stock-still. He never had to guess when the needle started to go in. Once started, the iron grip on his hands didn’t let up one bit. That was okay. _I’m here, Dad_. He clung tighter to the arm as groaning filled his ears.

* * *

Brad got into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut. He adjusted the mirrors to his desired setting, double-checked the lights were on and the heat was turned on. He then cranked the heat up a couple notches. He glanced over his shoulder quick.

“Am I good to go, Mike?” The medic finished his adjustments to the seat before stepping outside and slamming the front passenger side door shut. He then entered through the backseat passenger side door, looked around, and slammed the door shut. He looked like he was nudging something on the floor, but he was able to meet Brad’s eyes and nod.

“I got everything I need. Go, Brad. Punch it.” He braced himself against the interior of the vehicle as he felt it take off. He gazed at the little blue devil, curled up into a ball on the floor, unmoving from his position. “Both are sound asleep, which means I can continue my treatment in relative peace and quiet.” He heard a chuckle from the front and glared at the other man.

“You didn’t dose Sonic, did you?”

“Tempting.” Mike snorted. “Apparently when his quote-dad-unquote got knocked out, he decided it was as good a time for a nap as any. Regardless, I’m not complaining.”

“You want me to call the hospital?” Brad offered, but Mike waved him off.

“I’ll do it. You’re the one going 168 miles-an-hour.”

“Well, now 171 miles-an-hour,” Brad stated with a smile.

“You’re just confirming my point. Drive fast, and don’t forget to turn on lights and siren when we hit the highway.”

“Yes _sir_.” Brad mocked. Mike eyed him for a moment before turning back to his patient.

“Too bad this doesn’t mean I can’t get some shut-eye as well,” he groaned. To the best of his ability, he stretched out his arms and cracked his neck. “Oh well, at least I finally have my peace and quiet.” Unbeknownst to him, Brad smirked and hit a button.

Five minutes later, Mike started, his eyes narrowing with realization. He slowly turned his head around and fixed Brad with his medic glare. Brad smiled innocently enough.

“What?”

“If you don’t change the radio station in the next ten seconds, I am putting you out of commission.” Brad’s grinned only widened.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry. Everything's going to be fine. :-)


End file.
